That Summer
by The Peep93
Summary: Everything wrong happened to Jessie. So, she decided to take some time off from everything that was haunting her. All she wanted was a family. Little did she know that she would find that family in the most unlikely of places.
1. In the Beginning

**AN: **

**This first chapter might be a little slow, but the good part's coming, I promise. I require reviews to continue the story, because if I don't know that someone is actively reading it, I'll get bored and the story will DIE, and none of you want that, right?**

**I don't own the WWE or anything affiliated with it. I do own Jessie, though. Many of the people you read about in here are based off of real people, so they own themselves.**

I sat on the couch in my youth minister's office staring at the floor. I knew interrogation time was coming, but I'd been mentally preparing myself for the past few days. Actually, I felt dead inside and that helped a whole lot, but that'll be explained later in my rather unusual story.

"Well, now that we've got you back where you belong," Andrew, the youth minister said after we had been sitting in silence for what seemed like hours. "Do you mind telling me EXACTLY what's been going on the past few months?" I shrugged.

"Guess there's no harm in it now," I said. "Do you want the story from the beginning, or the concise version?"

"The beginning, please." I let out a sigh.

"I'd really rather the concise."

"What you'd rather really doesn't matter, considering everything right now. From the beginning." I let out another long sigh.

"Fine, I guess it all started with the accident…"

4 months earlier…

"Can we have Jessica Long up to the front office?" I was sitting in band class with my trumpet on my lap. I looked up at Mr. Naquin (pronounced NA-kan), the band director, excitedly. We were rehearsing for the spring concert, which is possibly the most boring undertaking I have ever undertook. He cocked an eyebrow at me and gave his trademark glare.

"Make it snappy, we're rehearsing," he said.

"You got it, Doc Naq (pronounced knock)," I said before grabbing the hall pass and rushing off to the front office. There were police cars parked outside the office, but they didn't bother me. I was a good kid; I never did ANYTHING that would get me in ANY kind of trouble. I opened one of the double doors and walked up to the front desk. "You wanted to see me?" I asked.

"Are you Jessica Long?" one of the policemen asked. I didn't notice them before, but there were two of them standing behind me, with my principal, Mrs. McCollum. I gulped.

"Yessir, I am." Mrs. McCollum put a hand on my shoulder. I didn't like her much so it freaked me out on major levels.

"We have some bad news, dear," she said. Now, to completely understand how terrified I was, you have to understand Mrs. McCollum. She's one of those strange people who literally goes out of her way to act happy all the time. She's the only person I know who can make our football team's 7 game losing streak sound like the best thing since sliced bread, and STILL come off as someone who is completely unhappy with their lot in life. So for her to call ANYTHING bad is a cause for concern.

"It can't be THAT bad," I said, being my normal, positive self. "I'm a good kid, whatever it is, I didn't do it."

"It's nothing YOU did, dear," she said. I remember getting a little annoyed with all the dear's she was giving me.

"Your parents were driving together today when a drunk driver hit them," one of the policemen said. I was still confused.

"Well, gosh, are they alright? What hospital are they in? Can I go see them?"

"They didn't survive the crash, dear," Mrs. McCollum said gently.

Present

"That's how you found out?" Andrew asked in unbelief. "They just took you out of class and straight up told you your parents were…" he hesitated, trying to find the right words

"Dead?" I asked. "See, this is exactly why I left, I couldn't take everyone's pity." He shot me a look.

"Finish the story."

"Fine," I grumbled. "The next few weeks were really a blur. Mr. Donald and Mrs. Donna took me in, as I'm sure you know."

"I DO go to the same church as them," he agreed.

"Well, one day, I just kinda woke up and realized what had exactly happened. I didn't talk for a while, as I'm sure you know."

"I AM your youth minister," he agreed.

"And not 4 days after I had realized the… enormity of the situation at hand, summer vacation was upon me. I couldn't do summer vacation. School was keeping my mind busy. Just laying around all summer with nothing to distract me woulda killed me. So, I decided one day to pack up my stuff and go on a road trip. I'd be back before summer ended, I left a note telling everyone that. Apparently, promises from an obviously depressed 16 year old don't mean much anymore. Everyone hunted for me, but I spent a week walking to Mississippi and hopped on a train to New York City. Not the brightest idea I'd had in a while, but it seemed like a good place to get lost in. My parents had left almost 100 grand to my name, so I was good in the cash department. What I DIDN'T count on was literally getting lost in New York City. I wandered around for days, not feeling like eating or doing anything but wander. About the fourth night, it was raining really hard, and it was a cold night. I remember stumbling into an alley and collapsing. I was exhausted from lack of food and sleep, and I decided that THIS was as good a place as any to just take a quick nap. I couldn't have been more right."

(3rd Person)

Randy Orton sat in the passenger seat of John Cena's Mustang. He stared absently out the window, lost in thought.

"It's gonna be weird without her," John mused.

"I thought we agreed to not talk about it," Randy growled without looking away from the passing scenery.

"I lied," John said bluntly. "I didn't think it would be this hard."

"You've got her phone number. I know you two will text or whatever."

"It's not the same, and you know it."

"You'll see her again." John looked over at his friend and cocked an eyebrow.

"Don't you care? At all?" Randy shrugged, and John sighed. "You really piss me off sometimes, you know that? She loved you. Her parents just died, and you were like her father all summer. And everyone in the whole world could see that somewhere in that cold heart of yours, you loved her, too."

"Shut up," Randy said dangerously. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"One day you're gonna realize how much she meant to you." Randy slammed his hand down on the dashboard.

"Dammit John, I KNOW how much she meant to me!" A smug grin spread across John's face. He let Randy simmer down for a few minutes before he continued.

"Remember when we found her?" he mused. "That was a funny night."

"Yeah I remember," Randy growled. "It was the night I won the title."

(3 months earlier)

"What a night," Randy Orton said as he hoisted his newly won WWE Championship onto his shoulder.

"THAT was a match NOBODY will forget any time soon," John Cena, his best friend, agreed. "I couldn't think of anyone I'd want to lose my title to more."

"You mean MY title," Randy said with a smile.

"That's what I said, MY title," John joked. They opened the double doors of the arena exit and got pounded by the pouring rain.

"You'd think a couple of multi time world champs could get parking space IN the arena," Randy said as he fought to shut door. John thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers.

"I know a shortcut to the parking garage," he said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"No," Randy replied immediately. "Every time we use one of your shortcuts, something bad happens to me."

"Aww, you're just afraid of the dark or something."

"Oh yeah? What about last time when that crazy fan jumped me and started trying to get you to beat me up with him?" John waved a hand.

"Pure coincidence."

"And the time before that when I dropped my bag and that giant Spam can on wheels hit it and crushed my laptop."

"A freak accident."

"And the time before that when-"

"Oh, would you stop complaining?" John asked. "We could take the long way around, but then you'd have a better chance of catching pneumonia and then they'd have to strip the title while you were recuperating. I was only looking out for your health." Randy considered this for a moment.

"Fine, but just this ONCE."

"YES!" John said with a fist pump. "Alright, follow me, we're just gonna run through this alley and we'll be right by the parking garage."

"Whatever." They opened the door, and Randy followed John as he made a dash for an alley.

As they ran down it, John jumped over something that was lying in the middle of the shortcut, but Randy didn't see it and tripped. He landed on top of it with a thud. John turned and started laughing hysterically.

"I eat my words," he laughed. "I gotta start suggesting shortcuts more often!" Randy mumbled some profanity as he got up. He picked up his bags and was about to kick the soggy bundle he tripped over when it _moved._

"John, that thing just twitched," Randy said.

"Oh, that makes sense. It reached up and grabbed your leg, and THAT'S why you fell. I understand now!" He started laughing harder, but stopped when Randy flipped over the thing and revealed a very thin and frail looking girl who looked soaked to the bone.

"Oh dang…" John muttered. He squatted down and examined her. "She doesn't have a fever…" he said as he felt her head.

"Let's take her to the hospital and go home."

"No!" John exclaimed. Randy raised an eyebrow.

"Why not? I don't want to get involved, John!"

"She's gotta have a good reason to NOT be at the hospital! Maybe she can't pay for it, or she has a phobia or something."

"It's not really our problem…"

"So? What's your point?" RKO gave an angry sigh.

"Fine. Just for tonight. And nobody finds out that we have her in our room. I can just see the headlines now." He lifted the girl into his arms. "'John Cena and Randy Orton bring an unconscious girl into their room. What happened on the inside?'" John laughed as he grabbed Randy's dropped bags.

"You're such a girl."

**AN:**

**Remember, if I don't get reviews, the story will probably die. Be sure to tell me what you think, whether it be praise or constructive criticism!**


	2. A Dream Come True

**AN:**

**Didn't get many reviews. If you don't like it, tell me! If you don't think I should keep it going, tell me! But if you think I should continue on, tell me. Tell me tell me tell me! Annnnd… Onward! Oh, when the flashback things start, I'm gonna put a *****************************. If there's a change of POV, I'll have a line like this one.**

Andrew rolled his eyes.

"So, you're telling me that John Cena and Randy Orton saved you?" he asked incredulously.

"Yep." I replied.

"C'mon now, you expect me to belie-"

"Look," I said. "You're the one who wants me to tell you my story so bad. Could you PLEASE stop interrupting me? I've got no reason to lie to you, at this point."

"Fine."

When I woke up, I was lying in a bed with two men sitting next to me talking.

"Where am I?" I demanded when I realized how much trouble I was in. In a hotel room with two strange men? Yeah, New York seemed like SUCH a good idea right now. "Who are you?" The adrenaline rushed through me, and I jumped out of the bed and got in a defensive stance from my basic Muay Thai training. Hey, YOU might not think I stand a chance against two grown men, but the thought never even crossed my mind.

"Whoa there, hotshot," one of them said. "We found you passed out in an alley, so we brought you here."

"John didn't think you had the money to pay for a hospital or something. I told him he was crazy." Both of their voices sounded vaguely familiar, but I wasn't interested in placing them at the moment.

"Randy's a real negative guy. Ignore him." I started laughing at this point.

"Oh, this is just great," I said. "The two guys who kidnap me have the same names as my favorite wrestlers. Absolutely hilarious." The pair glanced at each other, and then one flipped on the light. "O. M. G," I said as my eyes adjusted. "You look just like them too." John laughed out loud.

"Did you hit your head or somethin' when you fell?"

"Maybe she's just stupid," Randy muttered. He sat back down and reclined the chair.

"We ARE John Cena and Randy Orton," John said. I cocked my head and drank it all in.

"Oh great," I said again. "Now I'm hallucinating." Even Randy chuckled this time.

"You're funny," John said. "Are you always like this, or is it just after you pass out?"

"One time, I passed out and hit a water fountain. But that's an embarrassing story. So I told everyone that you hit me with a chair," I told John. "And then I told them I beat you up." John and Randy glanced at each other.

"Are you ok?" John asked.

"She's crazy, let's bring her to the hospital."

"Oh no," I said. "You are MY hallucination; you're not bringing me to the hospital."

"Girly, we're not imaginary," John said gently. I crept over warily, then poked him in the arm. My hand hit a real person, and I jumped back.

"WOAH!" I turned about 10 shades of red. "I am SO sorry, I didn't think… y'know." John laughed.

"Yeah, I got it. So, now that we're all on the same page, do you mind me asking why we found you passed out in an alley?" I kicked at an invisible something on the ground.

"Well, that's a long story."

"We've got time," Randy said from the chair by the window. I took a deep breath and related my sad story to them.

"So, yeah," I said as I reached the part about New York. "I guess I'm just a LITTLE bit in depression, and I didn't eat for a few days, and I passed out. No big deal."

"No big deal?" John demanded. "What if it HADN'T been me n' Randy that stumbled upon you in that alley?"

"Yeah," Randy said. "You can't just expect us to just put you back on the street if you're just gonna end up in the same place we found you."

"Oh trust me," I said. "I've learned my lesson. I don't think there's any chance I'll do THAT again." I laughed. "I'm not even sure I'm gonna make it out of HERE alive yet."

"We won't hurt you," John assured me. "But we're not gonna let you walk back out there by yourself again."

"She could go back home," Randy suggested. My face fell.

"But, I can't, that's not fair!" I said. Randy shrugged.

"Do you like wrestling?" John asked suddenly.

"Oh yeah," I said. "I always dreamed of being a wrestler one day. I wanted to be the first woman to hold the WWE championship," I declared. The strangest look crossed John's face, and a funny grin slowly spread. He looked at Randy.

"Oh no," Randy said before John even said anything. "I know what you're thinking. We're not doing it. I've got enough trouble as it is."

"Aww, it would only be for the summer!" John said. "And that would be it." He turned to me. "Go use the bathroom so Uncle Randy and I can talk." At this point, I was completely lost, so I went into the bathroom and pressed my ear against the door.

"Don't get her hopes up," Randy said. "'Uncle Randy' my ass!"

"Her parents just died, she depressed, and she loves wrestling. Coming on the road with us would be the perfect way to make her life a little better." I silently pumped my fist at that last comment.

"You just met her. You just picked her up off the street. How do you know she's not lying to you just to get you to have pity or something? What if she's taking advantage of you?"

"She thought she hallucinated us. How could that possibly be trying to take advantage of us?"

"Tell him, John," I whispered.

"Aww, c'mon, Randy! You've gotta have a little compassion in that cold heart."

"You're like a five year old sometimes. Fine, if you wanna take some random kid with you on the road, knock yourself out. But she's YOUR responsibility, got it?"

"Yes sir, DAD," John said, the sarcasm oozing from his voice. "I promise I'll feed her and water her and take REAL GOOD care of her."

"Shut up." I flushed the toilet, washed my hands, and walked out the bathroom innocently.

"Did I miss anything?" I asked, fighting to keep the grin from spreading across my face.

"Well, we've got a proposal for you," John said.

"I'm listening," I replied.

"We don't want you back on the streets, and you don't want to be back in your hometown. So, we think-"

"He thinks," Randy cut in.

"We think," John said, shooting a glare at Randy. "That you should come on the road with us." I practically exploded, but I managed to contain myself.

"Well, I guess I could… Aw shucks, that would be AMAZING!" John laughed at the huge grin I had.

"Great!" Randy said. "Now we get to argue over sleeping arrangements. I am sleeping in a bed, by myself." He got up and sprawled out on one of the beds. "You two can play rock paper scissors over the other one. Good night." John chuckled.

"Night, dad. Don't mind him; he's grumpy when he's sleepy. You can have the other bed tonight, and then I'll take it tomorrow, and we'll alternate like that, ok?"

"Fine by me," I said. "You can have the bed all the time," I offered. "I'll sleep on the couch."

"Don't argue with me, just get in the bed." We looked at each other for a moment, and then Randy started laughing.

"That conversation officially got awkward. Go to bed." John and I laughed for a minute and then I got into the bed, and he hopped on the couch. Maybe this summer wouldn't be as bad as I thought after all.

(3rd Person)

"That first night was weird, too," John said.

"The whole situation was weird," Randy said. "Two wrestlers with a runaway tagging along with them? Do you know how much trouble we got into on those wrestling news sites?"

"Bah," John said, waving a hand. "Everybody gets it at some point. It was worth it."

"Yeah…" They rode in silence for a few minutes.

"Did you really hate her for those first few weeks, or was it just your tough guy act?"

"It was weird having a fan always there. I didn't like it at all."

"I think that's why she tried so hard to get you to like her. She looked up to you, and you just kinda ignored her-"

"John?"

"Hmm?"

"Shut up."

"Aww, is someone feeling guilty?" John asked.

(Jessie)

"So, I went on the road with wrestlers." A huge grin spread across my face. "It was a dream come true. One of the absolute best things that has ever happened to me."

"Really?" Andrew asked flatly.

"You have no idea," I replied in the same tone. "So anyway, I rode with them to the next house show and got introduced to Vince McMahon himself."

We got to the next show, and for about the last hour of the trip, Randy and John debated on whether or not anyone should be informed of me in general.

"People bring kids on tour all the time during the summer!" John said.

"People bring THEIR kids on tour all the time," Randy pointed out.

"Well then we'll tell them she's our kid."

"OUR KID?" John thought for a moment.

"Yeah, you're right. She's too old, people wouldn't buy that."

"OUR kid?" Randy said again. I giggled from the back seat.

"What?" John asked.

"Just for the record," Randy said, trying to contain his temper. "I HAVE A WIFE AND I WOULD NEVER, _EVER_ ADOPT A CHILD WITH YOU!"

"Well OBVIOUSLY," John shot back. "THAT would be gay." I laughed from the back seat. These guys were hilarious and they didn't even realize it.

"What are YOU laughing at?" John asked as he looked back at me through the rear view mirror.

"Oh, nothing," I replied innocently. "So anyway, if I can't be your kid, then how are you gonna explain me?" John made a thinking noise, then scrunched up his eyebrows.

"I guess we'll have to tell Vince about you, at least. If anyone else decides to say something, I'll tell them you're my cousin or something." I shrugged.

"Works for me."

"Sound good, Randy?" RKO turned to John and scoffed.

"Does it LOOK like I give a shit?" he demanded.

"Dude, watch your language, there's little ears in the car," John scolded. Randy rolled his eyes and stared out the window. Ouch, THAT hurt. I may have a weird life, but I can tell when I'm not wanted. I hated that feeling.

The rest of the ride was in silence, and when we reached the arena, I grabbed one of Randy's bags for him and followed them into the building. I figured that if I was just the nicest runaway this side of the Mississippi, Randy would have no choice but to like me as much as John did. We walked through the hallways to the guy's locker room. Boy did I get some funny looks. They didn't really matter much at the time, though, cuz I was completely star struck. Before the accident, well, even after the accident, I guess, I had a fanatical obsession with wrestling that could only be described as a love for the business. And now to be backstage, watching all the different crew members run around getting things ready, and seeing the wrestlers for the first time without a barricade between us made me wanna shout. This goofy grin spread across my face as I drank everything in.

"Woah there, hotshot," John said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked up and realized that I had almost walked right into the guy's dressing room. "You're not allowed in here," he said with a grin. Randy took the bag I was carrying, and they went into the room and left me alone.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be back here." I looked up and saw the Big Show lumbering towards me with a frown on his face. Let me tell you, that dude is HUGE.

"I'm uh, here with Randy and John," I stammered. Show laughed.

"I know you're their biggest fan or something, but you can't just sneak back here and expect to see them. He put a hand on my shoulder. "Where are your parents at? I bet they're worried about you."

"Wha… No, you don't understand," I said as I lifted his rather large hand off me. "They actually BROUGHT me here. I'm just waiting for them to get out of the locker room." Show shook his head and laughed.

"You know what? I like you. Here, I'll see if they're in there." He put his hand back on my shoulder and peeked into the locker room. "Is everyone decent?" he called. There were some grunts and yes's, and he pulled me in the room with him.

"WOAH!" I shouted, covering my eyes as I saw Evan Bourne covered in only a towel.

"Got somebody here to see you, John. You too, Randy. Why don't you say hey so we can get her back to her parents."

"How'd she get back here?" a voice I recognized as Edge asked.

"She told everyone they brought her here."

"I didn't bring her," Randy muttered. "I don't really want anything to do with her, Johnny here brought her."

"Yeah, she's my little cousin," John said without missing a beat. "We were gonna go talk to Vince to get her Ok'd to tour with us for a while, I just needed to put my stuff up first. Thanks, Paul."

"You were telling the truth," Show said, sounding a little amused. "Go figure."

"Can I leave now?" I asked. There were guys staring at me with just their boxers on. I was a little more than uncomfortable. Show looked around for the first time.

"Man, I asked if you all were decent!" he grumbled. John laughed and led me out the door. Randy followed, and soon we were on our way to the Chairman's office.

"You did WHAT?" Vince demanded after John explained the situation. "If we brought every unhappy kid we met on tour with us, we'd be out of business," he said, sounding exasperated.

"Aww, this is different and you know it," John retorted. "She's got nowhere to go. I'll take full responsibility for her while she's here. And at the end of the summer, she'll go right back home where she belongs. Ok?" Vince stared at me for a moment and groaned.

"Fine. But if word gets out that you have some random kid on tour with you, it'll be your asses."

"Don't pull ME into this," Randy said. "It's ALL John." John ignored Randy and high fived me.

"Don't you worry, Vince. As far as anyone knows, she's my cousin who's gonna be on tour with us for the summer."

"And it had better STAY that way." Vince looked at me again. "Well, miss, welcome to the WWE."


	3. New Places, New Faces, and Halo

**AN: Sorry for the long time it took to update, but I've been busy. And I wasn't getting any reviews, which BUMMED ME OUT. And so, for the 2 people who did review:**

**Biblicalforte: Why thank you very much. Wicked good stories come from wicked good authors, or so I've heard =p**

**SoftballStar13: I'm glad you like it! And I do try hard to be funny. I'm trying to keep them… not in character, per say, but like they are in real life. Twitter's been a real big help. Well, except for Randy. He's actually kinda based off of the youth minister that's popping up from time to time, who is a real person. He can be a real bum sometimes, but he still cares in his strange way and I still look up to him, if that helps to explain Randy and Jessie's very odd relationship.**

Ch. 3

(Present Time)

Randy and John stopped to eat at McDonalds.

"I'll have a number 7 meal with a coke," John told the woman at the counter.

"And we'll have a two number 4's, one with a PowerAde and one with a Coke," Randy said. John rolled his eyes.

"Don't you mean ONE number 4?" he asked.

"Oh," Randy said. "I guess I'm so used to ordering for two I…"

"I know, man."

*************************************************************************************  
We left Vince's office with grins on our faces. Yeah, even Randy. John and I skipped down the hall arm in arm, and when I looked back, even the Legend Killer caught our contagious grins.

"Alright Cuz, who do you wanna meet first?" I grinned even more.

"Really?"

"Well, I figure you gotta make new friends so somebody can keep an eye on you while Randy and me are on stage."

"Well, I dunno. Who's nice." John thought for a moment.

"Not Zack Ryder," he said decisively. "Woo woo woo my buttock." Randy laughed.

"I bet Paul would like her." I looked back at him.

"Paul Levesque or Paul White?" John ruffled my hair.

"Look at that! Our little girl's a smark!" I frowned and went to walk by Randy.

"First of all, don't touch the hair. And second, what's a smark?" Randy ruffled my hair even more.

"A smark is a fan that knows wrestling is scripted and knows too much. The fact that you know Big Show AND Triple H's real names make you a smark."

"No, that just makes me informed," I said, shoving his hand away.

"At least we didn't have to tell her it wasn't real," John said with a shrug. "THAT'S like telling a five year old Santa Clause isn't real."

"Santa's not real?" I asked, feigning disbelief.

"Well, uh…" John stuttered.

"You're not serious, are you?" Randy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I'm just kidding," I assured the champ. "THAT would be weird."

"Anyway," Randy said. "I meant Paul Levesque. But I was being sarcastic. He'd probably think about you the same way I do." This statement confused me.

"So he'd like me, right?" Randy snorted.

"Not exactly." He sped up his pace and got ahead of us.

"Ignore him," John said. "If he didn't like you, he wouldn't even room with us."

"Hey there, John." We turned around and saw Chris Jericho. "You won't believe what I heard."

"Chris is the gossip of the roster," John explained.

"I heard that you were bringing your little cousin or something on tour with us."

"Yes I am," John said. "Chris, I'd like you to meet Jessie Long, my cousin." Chris offered his hand.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, John's cousin," he said as I shook it.

"So, you DON'T act like a butt hole in real life?" I asked. He laughed.

"Of course not, you imbecile. Why do you parasites assume that I would be the same antagonist in real life that I am in the ring?" I didn't really know what to say, so I just kinda gave him a confused look. Him and John suddenly started laughing. "I'm just messin' with ya. WHY would I act like that in real life? I'm like, the lead singer of a band, I'm the host of a TV show-"

"And he REALLY likes to brag about how awesome he thinks he is to COMPLETE strangers!" John said. "So, before he gets started again, WE are gonna go find someone to babysit you!"

"Well, I could watch her while you guys are on," Chris said.

"No no, I was gonna see if Dave or somebody would-" Chris put an arm around my shoulder and steered me away from John.

"Oh no, John, you go get ready. I'm not on for like an hour. We'll hang out, and I'll get her up to date on everything that goes on around here."

"You good, Jess?" John asked.

"Yup. Go have fun at work."

"You got it, little smark!" John walked off to go to the locker room so he could get ready, and I looked up at Chris.

"So…" I said.

"Well, first of all you gotta meet the guy who's REALLY in charge back here."

"Who's that?"

"Paul Levesque." I frowned.

"Randy said he wouldn't like me. I'd rather NOT make the scary guy mad."

"Bah. Paul's a big softie. Especially ever since he had children. C'mon." We walked into the catering area. Chris spotted him sitting at a table with Stephanie McMahon. "Hey Paul!" He glanced over at us as we walked up.

"Hey Chris."

"Who's your friend?" Steph asked.

"This is John's cousin who is temporarily gonna be on tour with us," he explained.

"Why is she with you and NOT John?" Paul asked. He looked me up and down, and I felt like I was being sized up.

"Because John had to go get ready. I offered to watch her, being the wonderful person I am."

"Yes you are, Chris," Paul said sarcastically. He turned his attention back to me. "What's your name, kid?"

"Jessie," I said. "It's nice to meet you, sir. You too, Ms. Stephanie."

"Just Stephanie, please," she said with a laugh. "It's nice to have some new faces around here." She winked. "Maybe we can get somebody to train you and you can go out on stage a few times." My eyes got big.

"That would be AWESOME!" I said.

"You seem like you're a pretty big fan," Paul said.

"I am," I agreed. "Back home, me and my friend decided that I was gonna be the first woman to win the WWE Championship." Paul sighed.

"How many times do I have to say it? Women have the Diva's Title and the Women's Title. Men have the WWE Title and the World Heavyweight Title." Chris and I took a seat at Paul's table.

"Yeah, and they have the Intercontinental Championship, and the United States Championship, and the Unified Tag Team Championship, but those are technically two titles, so the men have like…" I counted the difference on my fingers. "Four more titles than the girls." Paul's eyes narrowed, and he leaned over the table to talk to me.

"But nobody really likes the women's wrestling. Have you ever been to a live show? Everybody goes on a bathroom break during the Divas' matches," he explained.

"Well that's because y'all make it seem like the women's wrestling is all about how skanky they can look. It's ridiculous! Why can't they actually wrestle? Like normal people?" Steph and Chris laughed. Jericho put an arm around my shoulder again.

"I like you more by the minute. I've been saying the same thing for MONTHS now. I've been trying to get them to approve a Women's Tag Team Title. But NOOOO, the ratings wouldn't be high enough." Vince walked over about then.

"What are you two arguing over now?" he asked when he saw Chris, Hunter and I in such deep conversation.

"Jess agrees with me about the Women's Tag Team Titles!" Chris declared.

"It just wouldn't be enough ratings!" Vince said.

"Now, Mr. McMahon," I said seriously. "That's a little demeaning. You've gotta at least try it! It makes me wanna change the channel when the girls come out in their high heels and start pulling hair and making those funny squealing noises." A Diva made the exact noise right behind me. "Like that!" We turned around and saw Evan Bourne profusely apologizing to Alicia Fox for spilling his drink all over her new shirt or something.

"A Tag Team Championship would start solving our problem," Chris said decisively.

"I just don't know," Vince said. An idea struck me.

"What if you did this? Set up a match on Smackdown, LayCool or whatever it is versus the current Diva's champ. It would be a handicap match, but still for the title. Layla could pin the champ, and we'd all think that Michelle would attack her. But she wouldn't. Next week they'd come out and BOTH of them would have a belt. Everyone would try and beat them, but the two against one would be impossible to beat. And then their only chance to be champs would be to find a partner and make it a tag team match." Vince thought for a moment.

"That would actually be great," Hunter said. "It would be just for a trial basis, and if we ever wanted to end it, the partners could just fight." Vince nodded.

"I like you," he told me. "We might just try that. Got any other great ideas?" I thought for a moment.

"Make Shawn Michaels come out of retirement?" Everyone at the table laughed.

"Yeah, we all miss him, too," Paul said.

"His real name's Michael, but he actually goes by Shawn," Chris informed me. "It's his middle name or something."

"I wish I coulda met him," I said wistfully. "He's like, my hero."

"Well, you got here about three months too late," Vince chuckled.

"He doesn't just pop in from time to time?" I asked hopefully.

"He decided that it was time to go, so he did," Paul explained. "He did promise to come visit next time we were in Texas."

"Which will be..?"

"September."

"Aw shucks," I said, realizing that I wouldn't be around that long. "Well, guess I won't meet Shawn Michaels while I'm here," I said with a shrug.

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Chris asked. I laughed at the face he made.

"It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Jericho," I told him. Jericho's phone rang, and he answered.

"Hello? Yeah, she's right here. We're hanging out with the Levesque's and Vince. Yes, Randy, they like her. You sound surprised." I frowned as I heard that. Why would he be surprised? "You don't sound too excited about that either. Fine, I'll bring her over in a few minutes." He turned to me, and saw the frown. "Don't take it personally. Randy's on his period. Anyway, Ted and Cody wanna meet you. So, off we go!" Paul stood up and shook his head.

"You're ok, kid," he said as he extended his hand. I shook it with a grin.

"Yeah, I guess you're pretty cool, too." I nodded to Stephanie. "It was very nice to meet you, ma'am."

"I like her," Steph said. "Can we get her to babysit?" Paul laughed.

"We don't want to scare her off yet, do we?" I laughed and turned to follow Chris.

"Bye, Mr. McMahon!" I said as I suddenly remembered the powerful figure who held my fate in his hands. Definitely didn't want to get on HIS bad side. He could have me thrown off the trip. He smiled and nodded in my direction, and I ran to catch up with Chris.

Chris knocked on a locker room door.

"Hey! Put on some clothes and open up!" The door swung open and I was greeted by two very curious faces and one VERY grumpy Randy face.

"So this is the little ru-" Cody was cut short by a quick elbow jab from Ted. My jaw fell. _They KNEW? _"What? I was gonna say ruuuu… nt. Runt, yeah." Randy rolled his eyes.

"You can leave now, Chris," he said. Chris mock saluted and exited.

"YOU TOLD THEM?" I demanded of Randy. After I was sure Chris was out of earshot, of course.

"It's not like they'll tell anyone," Randy grumbled. "Why do I have to answer to some brat anyway? I'm the adult here, not you." I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Ok, this is getting old," I told him.

"What?" he asked.

"If you don't want me here I'll leave."

"Sure," he sneered. "I'm not that lucky."

"Well," Ted said. "We know who to NOT leave alone in a room full of sharp objects." Cody laughed.

"I like her. How long did it take for YOU to stand up to his moodiness?" he asked.

"Not as long as it took you," Ted said with a smirk.

"Yeah yeah, details," Cody said with a wave of his hand. "Anyway, are you guys comin' over tonight? I brought the X Box. All night HALO marathon!" Ted groaned.

"No Codes. I'm tired of getting my tail handed to me every night!"

"HA! You admit I'm better than you!" Cody declared.

"Of course I admit it! You beat me every night! Can I just NOT tonight?" I looked up at the smirking Cody.

"I can beat you," I said. Cody's jaw dropped.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"I said I bet I can beat you." Ted and Cody glanced at each other and laughed.

"Girls can't play Halo!" Ted said.

"I don't even think girls can play video games!" Cody laughed.

"I'll prove it. Tonight. I'll take both of you in a two on one slayer match. Energy swords and snipes." Cody was speechless for a moment.

"Alright. It's on. Just cuz you can speak Halo doesn't mean you can play it."

"Bring it," I said with a grin.

**AN: There it is. To keep the characters as round as possible, or as real as possible, I've based them off of real people. The main character is based off of myself, and that's what makes this story really fun to write. I get to imagine how I would react and deal with these kinds of situations instead of having to put myself into the mind set of being a more complex character, like Derek in I Made it. I hope my few readers are enjoying this as much as I am!**


	4. Ahh Halo, We Salute Thee

**AN: Well, I'm sorry for multiple things in this chapter. One, I'm sorry that it took so long to get up, and two, I'm sorry it's kinda short. I laugh every time I read this one, though, so have fun! Be sure to review and send me suggestions, cuz I'm kinda stuck. **

**I would particularly like to apologize to biblicalforte, who has sent me many a message begging for this chapter =p I love readers like you, though!**

(Chapter 4)

"Yes!" I cheered as I defeated Priceless AGAIN. "Who's tha massa? NOT YOU!"

"It's all your fault Ted!" Cody growled as he threw down the controller for the umpteenth time. Ted stuck his tongue out.

"How do you figure? You lost just as bad when you made me quit," he grumbled. Cody flipped him the bird, and Randy jumped in.

"C'mon, Cody! There's a kid in the room!"

"Oh ho!" Ted said with a smirk. "Look who actually gives a flying fu-" It was at that point that I tackled the Fortunate Son.

"SHHHH!" I demanded. "PLEASE watch your language." Ted pushed me off of him.

"Geez, fine. Another goody two shoes. What are we gonna do? It's like having another Evan Bourne running around." I frowned.

"Maybe I'll go hang out with HIM instead. I'm sure YOU three wouldn't mind." I furrowed my brow and sat Indian style with my arms crossed and my backs to the wrestlers.

"Aww, don't do that!" Cody whined. "I just had my first taste of real competition, and you're gonna just LEAVE ME?"

"That was the plan," I grumbled. I glanced at the clock. "It's getting late anyway. I'm goin back up to the room." As I hopped onto the floor, Cody fell to his hands and knees.

"NOOOO! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THE NOOBS!" he sobbed. The sad thing was, I really don't think he was faking. Ted chuckled.

"Sleep deprivation and Rockstars make Cody do weird things," he assured me. "He won't remember a THING in the morning." I chuckled.

"I know the feeling. I'm warning you now. Big doses of caffeine make me do bad things. Anyway, I've gotta go. Are you coming, Randy?"

"I'll be up in a little while."

"Ok," I shrugged. I shook Cody off my leg and left the room.

(Randy's POV)

Jessie left the room and a sobbing Cody on the floor. He quickly got over it and stood up.

"When I start to think about marriage, I've decided the lucky lady is gonna have to be one of the girls who beat me at Halo," he proclaimed.

"Codes, there's only ONE girl who's ever beat you at Halo, and I think she's underage," Ted pointed out. A look of realization crossed Cody's face.

"She's only like 8 years younger than me! That's not as weird as Michelle and Mark! We can have a Halo themed wedding and she can be dressed as Cortana and I'll be wearing a Master Chief suit and…" he sighed. "It'll be great." Jessie opened the door with a look of pure horror on her face.

"Please please oh PLEASE tell me he's not talking about me!" she begged.

"Sorry kid," Ted said. "Cody's fallen madly in love with you because of your mad Halo skills."

"I just came back to grab my phone and I hear plans for my WEDDING?"

"How old are you?" Cody asked.

"I'm 16 you freak!" He frowned.

"Hmm… well… We'll just have to wait until your eighteenth birthday! That gives us plenty of time to prepare!"

"You know what? Keep the phone, I'll get it tomorrow." She shut the door and we could practically hear her running to the elevator. Cody, in the meantime, had suddenly passed out sleeping on the couch.

"Wow," I said. "How long has it been since he slept?"  
"Like 4 days. All he does is go to work, eat, drink energy drinks, and play Halo. It's CRAZY to watch." I chuckled. That was Cody for ya.

"What about in the car?" I asked suddenly.

"You're never gonna believe this, but he's rigged my truck so he can play while I drive."

"Freak." Ted nodded in agreement.

We were silent for a few minutes, each lost in thought.

"So, do you really not like her?" Ted asked suddenly, breaking the silence. I thought for a moment.

"No. I'm always like that around new people, you should know that."

"Well, yeah, but from what I understand she isn't exactly 'new'. Haven't you had her for like a week?"

"Yeah, I guess. But, she said herself that she wasn't looking for anyone's pity. And I certainly don't intend to baby her just because she's had a rough time."

"Doesn't mean you have to treat her like dirt, either."

"Aww, I don't mean anything by it. She knows that."

"Are you sure?" I shrugged.

"What does it matter anyway?" Ted furrowed his brow.

"I dunno, it just seems like she really looks for your approval. Like you remind her of someone, almost. Maybe her dad?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Or maybe she's just a fan who was lucky enough to be found by the soft hearted Mr. Cena. Maybe you're reading too much into it."

"I guess…"

"Hey, guys," Cody said. We looked over at him. Apparently he had just woken up.

"Cody, you need sleep," I said decisively.

"Sleep is for squares. Now who's up for some Halo?" Ted and I glanced at each other, then we both tackled Cody. "Hey! What are you doing?" We picked him up and threw him onto the bed.

"This is for your own good, Codes!" Ted said.

As soon as I was sure that the nerd was alright, I headed back to me and John's room. A storm had brewed up at some point during the night, and I hadn't noticed until now. Weird.

As I opened the door to our room, lightning struck, illuminating the whole room. A single figure on the bed caught my attention.

"Jess?" The girl was sitting with her knees to her chest and her face buried in her legs. She looked up suddenly, like she didn't notice that I had entered the room.

"Oh, hey, Randy!" she said, just a little too happily, all things considered.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Who, me? Never been better!" She was talking at about 500 mph. She looked around before continuing. "Woah, this is your bed! Sorry. Musta got really tired and fell asleep."

"You fell asleep trembling in the fetal position?" I asked. "Are you afraid of storms?"  
"Who me? I'm not afraid of anything, specially not storms." She hopped up and practically ran to the couch before diving under the extra blanket. "Night!" Thunder rolled, and I saw her visibly jump and start trembling again. Fantastic.


	5. Of Animals and Thunder Thighs

**AN: OH please forgive me, oh great and wonderful readers! But before you burn me at the stake (Don't give me that look, I know the feeling.), hear me out. My house flooded back in December, and we had to move to Mississippi. Now, no offence to any Mississippi folks, but I'm pretty sure the only thing Mississippi is good for is not making Louisiana the worst state at everything. And I can say that because I'm FROM Louisiana. Anyway, between getting our house rebuilt and getting to college, my plate's been kinda full lately. Besides all that, my life has just been sort of falling apart in general. I do have a lot of the story written though, so this might not even be the last chapter I'm posting tonight. I love all my wonderful readers, so please don't throw me to the cannibals or anything, but keep on reading and reviewing! **

(Jessie)

I woke up the next morning to Randy and John mumbling about something.

"Maybe she's actually afraid of storms," John said.

"Or maybe she just wanted attention," Randy growled.

"Look man, I don't know what your problem is, but-" At that moment, Randy elbowed John and gestured back at me. John's whole demeanor changed. "Mornin', Jess!" he said.

"I'm sorry about last night, if that's what y'all were arguing over."

"We're not arguing," John said. "But it IS time for you to get packed. We have to go soon." I nodded and started to get ready.

About 15 minutes later, Randy was packed.  
"I'm riding with Ted and Cody," he declared. No sooner were the words out of his mouth, there was a knock on the door. John opened it up to a really excited Cody and an exasperated Ted.

"I brought Jessie's phone, and Cody's got a question," Ted said tiredly.

"Can Jess ride with us PUHLEEEEESE?" he asked.

"Why would I wanna do that?" I asked. He composed himself.

"Well, one, I've got the Xbox hooked up, so we can play Halo all the way to Seattle! B, we're gonna get married in like, a year, so we gotta get to know each other, and tres, you'll get away from Randy for a while. Oh, and there'll be HALO!" I turned to Randy, who had gotten a little red-faced.

"Um, I think Randy was gonna-"

"Oh no," he said. "You're GOING to ride with them. I'll go with Santino."

"He's on a tour in Europe," John pointed out. Randy huffed.

"Fine, looks like I'm stuck with you, John," he grumbled.

"We'll talk more later," John promised. He turned to me. "Are you ready?" I nodded. "Why don't you go with Ted and Cody?" I nodded again.

"Bye, guys."

(Randy)

John and I stood in silence for a moment until we were sure the three of them were a safe distance away.

"Don't give me that look," I said.

"She's not the anti-Christ," he replied.

"Did I SAY she was?" John scoffed.

"You might as well have! You find fault in everything she does!"

"Who's really THAT afraid of thunderstorms?"

"Oh I don't know. Let's think about it. If she's lived around New Orleans her whole life, she would have been 10 during Hurricane Katrina! Don't you think that could be just a LITTLE traumatizing?"

Oh. Duh. I hadn't even thought about that. I guess it WOULD have been pretty bad, especially for a 10 year old.

"Y'know," John said after a moment. "The only reason I even THOUGHT about letting her stay is because I know how she feels. Sometimes my life was so messed up as a kid that I wanted to run away. And besides that, what were we supposed to do, leave her in New York? She's only gonna be with us for the summer. Let's just have some fun with it, alright?"

"Whatever," I said. "I'm driving."

We got on the road and I finally had a few moments to think. John fell asleep as soon as we hit the road, so I had nothing but my thoughts for company. Ok, it was true, I wasn't really being fair to the runaway from New Orleans. Maybe she wasn't just here for the attention, or to say that she got to hang out with some guys on TV. Maybe it was just one of those weird twists of fate.

Fate. Who believes in it? Are things really meant to be?

See, this is what happens when you leave Randy Orton alone for too long. He starts to contemplate the meaning of life.

Without another thought, I cranked up the radio and drowned out my pesky thoughts.

(Jessie)

About an hour into the ride, I got bored and clambered up into the front seat with Ted.

"So, what was wrong with Randy this morning?" Ted asked. I wiggled nervously in my seat.

"I think I was the problem. I woke up to John and Randy arguing over something that happened last night."

"What happened?"

"I got back to the room last night and a storm had brewed. I have kind of a phobia…"

"A phobia?"

"Storms scare me. TERRIFY me. I was in the room alone last night when Randy walked in. I guess he thought I was faking, because him and John were mumbling about something along those lines." We were quiet for a while.

"He doesn't hate you, you know," Ted said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, sure."

"He's just a no-nonsense kinda guy. He'll warm up to you. He also hates being wrong. That's probably why he threw a hissy fit this morning. He'll be over it by the time we're at the next show."

"Y'think so?" He nodded. Cody suddenly popped up from the back seat, finally forsaking Halo.

"Guys, I'm bored." Ted and I glanced at each other and started laughing. "What?" Cody asked.

(Randy)

"About this morning…"

"I don't wanna talk about it," I sighed.

"Well, we sort of have to," John said.

"Why John? I'm over it."

"Well, I can't take her home with me this weekend, and I don't want to leave her here, so you have to take her."

"Why can't you?"

"Well, we're thinking about having a little John Junior." My jaw dropped.

"Really? I thought you didn't want kids?"

"Well, I changed my mind." I sighed.

"Yeah, I'll take her. But you owe me."

"Whatever."

We spent the rest of the ride idly chatting about one thing or another. It was weird, but, just a little, I found myself missing Jessie. She'd been with us non stop for the past few days though, so I guess that was normal.

It took us a while, but we finally made it to Seattle. Ted, Cody, and Jess beat us there, and they were in the room across the hall from ours.

"Hey guys," Ted said as the trio walked over to us. "We're goin to the gym, y'all wanna come?" John got that stupid grin of his.

"You know it! How was the ride, Jess?"

"It was great," she said with a smile. "Cody got bored like halfway here." I chuckled.

"Cody? Cody Runnels got tired of Halo? Well I never."

"I can go plug it in if you want me to…" he grumbled.

"NO!" we all said at once.

(Jess)

"We'll meet you down there," John said.

"You got it," Ted replied. "Me and Jess'll be bench pressing the nerd right out of old Codeman." We waved goodbye to Randy and John and headed to the arena.

Arenas have the best workout facilities, as I soon learned. They had lots of high tech equipment for the basketball teams, and everything was available to the wrestlers before shows. Soon, I found myself on a treadmill running next to Chris Jericho.

"Shouldn't you be like, bench pressing something?" I asked. Chris chuckled.

"Have you SEEN my thighs?" he asked. "Running. It's almost as good as a thigh master." I laughed.

"Yes, unfortunately, I HAVE seen your thighs. Why don't you just wear tights again?" He shrugged.

"Personal preference. Has Randy been any better?"

"Neh, she's growing on me," Randy replied. I didn't realize he was behind us, and he scared the life outta me. I tripped over my own feet and fell backwards. Luckily, Mr. Nosy was RIGHT behind me, and caught me under the arms. I grinned sheepishly up at him.

"Be more careful," he said, trying to suppress a grin. Suddenly, someone slammed open the door to the gym and let out a yell.

"Dave!" I heard John say. "Chill out!" I got to my feet and tuned to watch the exchange.

"You heard them!" Dave Bautista roared. "I've been a loyal employee for how long and I can't even take a few months off to work a movie?"

"They're wrong, Dave, I kn-"

"SHUT UP, John!" Dave said. "They gave you time off for movie deals. You, too!" he said, pointing at Teddy. He turned his attention to Randy. "And I'm sure YOU'LL get the part they promised me! This is f- bull-! I don't know why I've stayed with this f- company for this long."

"Dave!" Randy barked. "There's a kid in the room!" The Animal looked at me and blinked in confusion.

"Why is there a kid in here?" he asked.

"She's my cousin, touring with us for the summer," John explained. Dave looked at me again and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I'm out of here," he said before turning and leaving. John stared after him before taking a deep breath.

"They denied him time off for a movie deal. He's furious."

"So we noticed," Chris said. "Why didn't they just give him the time?" John shrugged.

"Maybe it's because they've given other people so much time off, or we've got too many out on injury."

"That's messed up," I said.

"That's the business," Randy replied.

"Don't mind Dave," John said, turning his attention to me. "He's not usually like this." I shrugged.

"Whatever. So, what's going on tonight?"

"The usual," Chris replied. "So I guess you're gonna be with me again tonight."

"I guess so," I said.

"Well c'mon then, I'll show you to the women's locker room so you can shower. You REAK." He put an arm around my shoulder to lead me out the door.

"I reek?" I asked, pinching my nose. "Speak for yourself, stinky."

We ran into Natalya halfway there.

"Hey there, Canadian," Chris said.

"Well how are you, Canadian?" she replied.

"I'm fine, but my little non-Canadian friend here needs a shower."

"Well hello, non-Canadian," Natty said, turning her attention to me. "Where'd you come from?"

"This is Jessie, John's cousin," Chris explained. "She's staying with us over the summer. And YOU are taking her to the showers because I'M not going into the women's locker room." He turned around and left me standing there.

"I thought you were supposed to baby sit me!" I called after him.

"Aww, come find me. I'll probably be in catering!" Natalya laughed a little.

"So you're the one who's been hanging out with Legacy," she said. I nodded. "YOU need some female friends. Being exposed to that much testosterone is dangerous." I laughed in agreement.

"Ain't that the truth?" I asked. She gave me a funny look.

"Where are you from?"

"New Orleans." She nodded knowingly.

"That would explain the accent."

"What's wrong with my accent?" I demanded with a pout.

"It's just so… different from mine! Different is good, though." She opened up a door and gestured me in. "There you go, showers."

"Thank you, Ms. Natalya," I said.

"Oh please, call me Natty. I'm not old enough to be a miss." I laughed and went to wash the grime off of me.

**AN: Maybe not the longest chapter I've ever posted, but it was already on my computer and I figured I'd give y'all something while I typed. I'm off of school for the next week for Mardi Gras break (Take THAT every other state in the union! Do YOU get a whole week off for Mardi Gras? NOPE! This is why living in the second worst state has its benefits =p) Anyway, look for more! Ciao! **

**PS: Did you read the Author's Note at the beginning?**


	6. Tickling It's Dangerous Just Trust Me

**AN: See? Told ya. Two in one night. Kinda. I couldn't sleep, so I wrote and posted at like one in the morning. Booyah. So be sure you read chapter 5 AND chapter 6 because they're both NEW!**

**Special shout out to xxxRKOEnigmaxxx. Because biggest fans are the greatest fans =p**

(Jess)

After I was freshened up and ready to take on the world, I fumbled around the arena until I found catering. After looking around, I decided that Y2J was NOT in the building, and instead went to sit with the Levesques.

"Have y'all seen Chris?" I asked as I took a chair. Paul and Steph both shook their heads.

"He might be in a meeting or something," Steph offered helpfully.

"He'll find his way here eventually," Paul said with a smirk. "You really can't get rid of the man." We all chuckled a little. "So, how's Randy been?"

"Neh, he's growing on me," I said with a smirk.

"Oh really?" I yelled out in surprise when Randy clapped his two big hands down on my shoulders.

"Dude, you have GOT to stop sneaking up on me!" I said, turning to give him a glare. He smirked down at me and messed up my damp hair before grabbing a plate he had placed on the table behind us and taking a seat.

"Or maybe, you should become a LITTLE more observant." I gave a snort and grabbed a cookie off his plate.

"YOU are a mean old man," I said, taking a bite of the chocolaty treat.

"Hey now," Randy glared. "I don't care what I do. Nobody touches the cookies. Go get your own."

"Why would I do that when there's perfectly good ones right here?" I asked, finishing it off and going for another. Randy slapped my hand away, and Paul grabbed one while the Legend Killer was distracted.

"She's got a point," he said, taking a bite. We high fived each other as Randy scowled at us.

"Oh, it is on now," he threatened. "You just wait." I tapped Paul's arm.

"Wait, did he just CHALLENGE me to a prank war?"

"I think he did, Jess. You got something in mind?"

"I'm the prank master. Bring it, Legend Killer." Randy and I stared each other down before all four of us burst out in laughter.

"What's so funny over here?" We looked up and saw Chris.

"Dude, I've been looking for you!" I exclaimed. "You said you would be in here!"

"Sorry, I've got things to do," he said.

"But I was lost and alone and I just didn't know what to do and I didn't know where you went and… and…" I fake sobbed. Chris grabbed me and hugged me tight.

"Oh I'm so sorry," he said, mocking me.

"Ow, Chris, airflow."

"But I left you all alone!" He squeezed tighter. "How could I ever make it up to you?"

"Life would be nice," I gasped.

"What was that? Speak up, I can't hear you!" Thinking quickly, I pretended to pass out. "Jess? Jessica?" he asked. He let me go. "Are you breathing?" He put his ear by my mouth to see if anything was coming out, and I yelled. He jumped back, I fell back into my chair laughing.

"That's what you get!" Randy got up, chuckling.

"Well, I've gotta head out. I'll see you guys later."

(Randy)

Alright, it's official. I don't mind the kid anymore. And now we had common ground to build on. So, when we got to the restaurant after the show that night, I waited for an opportunity to get payback for the cookies.

"I am so hungry," Jess said with big eyes as her burger reached the table. I had joined our small party about half an hour after they had ordered, so when I had ordered my food, they were getting theirs. The waitress placed her food in front of her, and her mouth was practically watering. "Oh yeah," she said, picking up the food to take a bite. Just as she was about to bite down, I grabbed the burger from her and took the plate.

"I'll take that," I said. Her jaw dropped.

"Uh, no!" she said, trying to grab it back.

"Uh, yeah! You took my cookies, and I'm taking your dinner. Fair trade." It was Jess's turn to glare now.

"I will bite your hand," she growled.

"Mmm…" I groaned, taking a bite. "This has got to be the best burger I have ever eaten." John, Ted, and Cody were looking a little bit confused, but they were laughing nonetheless.

"Randy!" she whined. "I'm hungry!"

"I'm not," I said. "This is freaking delicious."

Mission accomplished.

(Jessie)

Turns out, Randy had ordered the same thing that I did, so I just got my food a little later than everyone else. But I was MAD, so I spent the whole wait plotting my revenge. Oh yeah, I was gonna get him good.

But, instead of getting him back that night, I dropped subtle hints that he should watch his back and bided my time instead.

So, about two days later, Ted and I came back from a McDonalds run armed with little packets of ketchup. I went into the bathroom in our hotel room to plant my trap and then warned all the men in the room not to go number two. Well, except for Randy that is. So while I was schooling Cody at Halo ONCE AGAIN, we shared a quick high five when Randy yelled from the bathroom.

"What the- Why is their ketchup under the seat?" I had poked small holes in the packets so they would squirt when pressure was applied.

"I figured you'd want some ketchup with my burger!" I called. I heard the bathroom door open.

"Oh Cody!" Randy cooed.

"Yeah?"

"Were you in on this?"

"Nope!"

"Good, then I've got a job for you," Randy said. He grabbed Cody by the ear and dragged him out of the hotel room. When they came back in, they both had sly looks on their faces.

"What are you two up to?" I asked suspiciously. Cody grabbed me from behind while Randy pulled a pack of ketchup out of his pocket.

"Sorry Jess," Cody said. "He threatened Sven."

"Who's Sven?" I demanded, struggling to get out of his grasp.

"The Xbox. Duh." Randy cut a hole in the ketchup and advanced on me.

"C'mon now, Randy, it was just a joke!" I said. "It doesn't have to come down to this."

"Oh, you have no idea. Sorry Jess, but around here, payback is harsh." He took aim, and fired.

"TEDDY!" I yelled, racing down the hallway after I escaped from Cody and Randy and bolted out the door. I hadn't gotten away before Cody had told Randy where my hidden ketchup stash was and my head had been effectively covered in the red gooey stuff. I got away from Randy and got out the door and saw Ted coming down the hallway. "SAVE ME!"

"What in the world happened to you?" he asked.

"No time to talk," I gasped, pushing him back into the elevator. Randy and Cody came out of the room, looked around, and then ran towards us. I pushed the door closed button and stuck my tongue out as they reached us a second too late.

"I guess he found your prank?" Ted asked. I nodded sadly.

"He didn't appreciate it too much." I pushed the ground floor button.

"Jess, my room's on the third floor."

"And that's where they'll be expecting us to go." I grabbed his phone and dialed Randy. "Tell him you've got me on the ground floor." Ted shrugged and did as I told him to. Then I hit the third floor button, and sure enough, we made it safely to his room. I locked myself in the bathroom and refused to come out when Randy and Codeman finally figured out where we were.

"Alright," Randy said. "You win, you got away."

"I don't trust you!"

"Aw, tell her Ted!"

"He has no ketchup!" I had washed my hair out and was waiting for them to leave before I ventured out the door. Hearing Ted's word, I peeked out the door and saw Randy and Cody giving me innocent smiles.

"Teddy, are you just watching out for Sven, too?"

"Who in the world is Sven?" he demanded.

"The Xbox!" Cody and I exclaimed at the same time.

"Get out the bathroom," Ted demanded. I slowly stepped out, keeping my back to the wall. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Cody diving at me. I side stepped him and tackled Randy. Ted pulled me off and held me still.

"Alright. That's it," Randy said. "I happen to know your one weakness."

"What?" I demanded. "I don't… I'm not afraid of anything!" He chuckled darkly.

"You talk in your sleep," he said with an evil grin. Without another word, he proceeded to tickle me relentlessly.

"Bahahahah RANDY! Bahahahahahahah! STOP IT! AAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! I can't… ahahahaha don't blame me if…" With as much force as I could muster, I stomped on Ted's bare foot.

"YOWCH!" Ted yelled. He didn't let me go, and Ted finally stopped his assault.

"Do you give?" he asked.

"Never!" I hissed. He resumed the tickling, and kept it up until my sides hurt from laughing too much. John lazily walked in the room at some point, and I begged him for help. He watched in amusement for a few moments before he finally got Randy off of me. I collapsed on the bed and recuperated. "I am SO gonna get you!"

**AN: Ahh, just a fun little crack chapter. I needed to write some happy. It's just been that kind of week.**


	7. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

**AN: Meh, these chapters are a little short for my taste. I'm gonna try harder to get more out in each chapter. Anyway, read on.**

(Jessie)

We shipped out the next day and were in the next arena about 6 hours before the show. So I'm following Chris around like the good little shadow, when all of a sudden he stops me.

"I've gotta go into this meeting."

"Alright, can I come in?"

"Nope. Top secret," he said with a wink. "So, you can just like, chill here or go find Randy and John or something."

"Oh, ok." He walked into the room and waved before he shut the door. I heaved a sigh and looked around. These back hallways were flipping confusing. Deciding that the safest thing to do would be to just go back the way I came, I headed up the hallway. I noticed after a few seconds that there weren't any wrestlers walking around. I guessed that they were all in those top secret meetings or something, and continued on my way. I thought I recognized a hallway, so I turned down it. It twisted a few times, and then stopped at a dead end. I turned around, and then I was officially lost. I pulled my phone, which I usually kept off, out of my pocket, and then realized that I didn't know their numbers. I stared at my phone screen and deliberated over my next course of action, absolutely NOT watching where I was going. So, when I ran into a solid wall of very pale, very tall muscle, I fell flat on my bum.

"Oy there, lass," said a thick Irish brogue. "You'd best watch where yer goin'!"

"Uh, s-sorry Mr. uh, Mr. Sheamus," I stammered. That dude was freakin' scary. He laughed, a deep laugh from his belly.

"It's alright," he said. "Me name's Stephen, not Sheamus." He scrutinized me for a moment. "Are ye John and Randy's lass?"

"Uh, John's cousin," I said. "But yeah, I tag along with Randy, too." He chuckled.

"What're ya doin' back here, then?"

"Well, I was supposed to be following Chris, but he had to go into a meeting or something and I got lost back here." He laughed a little more.

"Yeah, it takes a while to get used to everything around here." He put an arm around my shoulder and steered me down the hall. "Now where were ye headed?"

"I was tryin' to find Randy." Stephen laughed again. What an amiable guy!

"He's probably sleepin' in one of tha private boxes. He sneaks off to do that sometimes."

"Oh," I said with a frown. "Then I dunno where I'm gonna go."

"I was headed out to the ring to practice with Matt Sydal tonight for our match. Ye wanna come watch us?"

"Sure!" I said brightly.

"I never caught yer name?"

"Jess," I told him with a smile.

"Well, it's very nice to meet ye, lass."

We made it out to the ring, and I was more star struck than I usually was. It was absolutely a dream come true for me. The Miz, AKA Mike Mizanin, was out in the ring with JC warming up for their match.

"Hey John!" Stephen called. "I think I found something that belongs to ye!" John looked down from the ring and waved at me.

"Hey, why don't the two of you come on up? We can have a tag match to get ready for that dark match tonight." Stephen laughed and clapped me on the shoulder.

"You can be Randy, since he's MIA," he informed me.

"Sorry dudes," I said, throwing up my hands. "I can't wrestle."

"Bah," Stephen said. He just grabbed me and hoisted me into the ring. "Lesson one. Never back down from a fight."

"Aw, shut up, Steve!" Mike said. He shook my hand. "I'm THE Miz, but you can call me Mike. Stevie here couldn't teach a bird how to fly. You can be on MY team." I nodded, and we high fived.

"Let's do it!"

(Randy)

I woke up from my nap in one of the private boxes to my phone's alarm going off. Naps are always good. I stretched my sore muscles and headed out of the box and down to catering. Time for a snack.

"Hey, folks," I said as I sat down with Chris, Paul, and Steph. After a moment, I noticed that Chris was short one blonde headed teen. "Where's Jess at?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"I dunno. I had a meeting, so I told her to go find you."

"I haven't seen her since we got here," I said. Ted and Cody walked in. "Have you two seen Jess?" They shook their heads.

"Nope!" Cody called.

"Calm down, DAD," Hunter said with a roll of his eyes. "She's still in the arena somewhere. Have you checked with John?" Ted shook his head.

"I saw him about 15 minutes ago. He was headed out to the arena, and Jess wasn't with him." I was getting a little nervous now.

"Well, we've got to find her!" I exclaimed.

"Calm down, Ortz," Cody said leisurely. "She's like 16, not 4. I'm sure she's fine." I glared at him.

"C'mon, Ted, let's go check in the ring and see if John's seen her."

"Alright, alright," Ted said. "I'm sure she's fine, but let's go look."

We hustled down to the gorilla position and I was immensely relieved to see Jess in the ring fooling around with Mike, Steve, and John.

"Shea… Ste… Whatever your name is… LET ME GO!" she demanded. Stephen was standing in the cinter of the ring with his arm wrapped firmly around her midsection while she reached to try and tag in Mike. "This isn't fair!" she whined. "When the girl tags in, the other guy's SUPPOSED to tag out!"

"OH!" John said, sounding offended. "Are you calling me a girl? Well, I was GONNA help you, but I guess not!"

"JOHN!"

"Nope!" She huffed, then jabbed her elbow into Steve's gut.

"Ow!" he yelped. She leaped to tag in Mike, but he stepped to the side and smirked down at her when she missed.

"MIKE! Y'all are all awful. Every last one of you!" Matt Sydal, who had been sitting ringside, hopped onto the apron and whispered something in her ear. A grin spread across her face, and she clambered up the turnbuckle. With a funny yell, she leaped onto Stephen, who caught her with ease and fell to the mat. JC became the ref and tapped out the three count. "Oh, you are SO next!" she yelled at Mike. That's when I got into the ring.

"Not so fast," I said with a frown. "Where have you been?" She blinked up at me.

"Here."

"You were supposed to be with Chris."

"He had to go to a meeting," she explained. "So I was gonna try and make it to catering, but I got lost and ran into Stephen. And he took me here." She shrugged. "Sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" I said. "Nobody knew where you were!" Stephen stepped in.

"Hold on there, fella," he said, getting in front of her. "YOU didn't know where she was. She was here, safe and sound. You need to take a breather, there." Jess frowned up at me.

"Whatever. I guess I'll just go sit in a corner like a good little girl." She grumbled something about how she must not have enough sense to take care of herself, then refused my offer to help her out the ring. Without missing a beat, she vaulted herself over the top rope and landed gracefully on the ground below. Ted followed her out, trying to console her. I was left getting bad looks from my co-workers.

"What?" I asked. John frowned at me.

"Look, man, I know you care about her, but she's not two like Alanna. She's old enough to walk around backstage by herself."

"Don't you think we should at LEAST know where she is, though?"

"I knew where she was," he said, putting emphasis on the 'I'. Looking around, I knew that I had already lost this battle. With a pout I hopped out the ring and left, too.

I barely saw Jess the rest of that day. When we got back to the hotel that night, she opted to stay with Natalya instead of with us. I went to sleep that night realizing that I had probably just royally screwed up any progress we had made.

**AN: Ted is the best, ain't he? Anyway, review, and I'd like to apologize to Tracie, the Mississippi person who reviewed. It's just I personally don't like living there, just like I probably wouldn't like living up north. And I'll be the first to admit that Louisiana sucks. Just think of it this way! If I ever become a professional wrestler, you'll know it's me because I'll get heat by pickin' on the South =p Anyway, happy trails! Ciao! **


	8. The Revenge of the Animal

**AN: Man, I am just a story writing MACHINE today! Since I posted a chapter at like one this morning, was that two yesterday and two today, or one yesterday and three today? Either way, that's like FOUR chapters in three days. Congratulations, me, I have just DOUBLED the story! Whoop whoop!**

(Randy)

John and I went to the next arena the next day alone. Jess had rode with Ted and Cody, and when I reached the locker room, I saw her leisurely sprawled across a couch playing with her iPod. The headphones were firmly plugged in her ears, and she looked up at me lazily before going back to her game. John cocked his eyebrow and looked between the two of us.

"Go on," he said.

"What?" I demanded.

"Go on and apologize!"

"What, why?"

"Because it's your fault!"

"My fault?" He jabbed me painfully with his elbow. "Alright, alright, I'm goin'!" I went and sat down next to her on the couch. "Hey, uh, Jess?" She ignored me and continued to play whatever game she was playing. "Jessie?" She glanced over at me, then looked back down at her game. "Jessica." I was losing my patience now. "Alright, that's it." I grabbed the game from her.

"Hey!"

"You listen to me!"

"Oh, are we about to have a conversation?" she asked in mock surprise. "I wasn't aware I was intelligent enough to have a real conversation."

"Shut up," I said. "I'm sorry about yesterday, alright? I was just worried about you! You've got to let us know where you are, though!"

"I'm not going to just run away from y'all!"  
"Well it wouldn't be the first time, now would it?" She just looked at me with this hurt look. "I didn't mean that."

"Oh sure," she said, sounding like there was a lump growing in her throat. "Y'know what? Why don't I just leave?" She got up, but I grabbed her arm.

"You're not going anywhere!" I snarled.

"Sure!" she said back.

"Y'know what?" I let go of her. "Fine, go on. But if you don't listen to anything else I say tonight, please, please, PLEASE don't come back to the room until somebody tells you we're all done changing, alright?"

"Whatever, I'm done here," she said before stomping out the room. John just shook his head at me.

"You're really bad at this."

"Shut. Up."

(Jessie)

I don't know what I had been expecting from the man. He's always been my favorite wrestler. And ever since I met him, I had looked up to him for a reason I didn't even understand. Apparently I was wrong. Everything was going good until yesterday. What did he expect from me? Why didn't he think I could look after myself? I huffed angrily and wondered exactly where he expected me to go now. Oh my, God forbid, Randy didn't know where I was! I punched a wall in frustration.

"Hey now, Jess, that's probably not the best idea." I turned and saw Ted walking towards me.

"Sorry, Teddy," I said sheepishly. He put an arm around my shoulders and hugged me to him.

"He didn't mean it, y'know."

"Sure."

"Remember what I told you the first couple days you were here? He doesn't like being wrong. He'll get over himself in a little while." He patted my shoulder. "Why don't you just go talk to him? You can both apologize for being bull headed." He laughed and shook his head. "You'd have been better off saying you were HIS cousin instead of John's."

"He told me not to go back to the locker room," I grumbled.

"He didn't want you walking in on anybody naked." My eyes grew wide in understanding. "There wouldn't be anybody with you, so he didn't want you wandering back in. See, he does care!"

"Oh…" I said silently.

"Anyway, I've got things to take care of. Give it about 20 minutes to let them get ready and then head over there, alright?"

"You got it." I hugged him back. "Thanks, Teddy."

"Any time, kid."

Ted and I went to catering and sat with John for a while. Ted explained to John what we had talked about, and John approved.

"He should be done just about now. Why don't you head over there? Be sure to knock, though, with the mood HE'S in," John said. I smiled at him.

"Y'all are the best. I'll see you later!"

I headed on down to the locker room and took a deep breath. This was it, I was ready to stop being stupid and fix this mess that two hard headed folks had gotten into. I knocked on the door.

"Randy?" There wasn't an answer. "Randy, you in here?" I heard a grunt come from the other side. "Can I come in?" Another grunt. I opened the door. I saw a big frame bent over Randy's bag. "Look, Randy, I just wanted to apologize for earlier… I was being bull headed, and I wanted to see if we could just talk this out." The big frame stood and looked over at me with a sick grin. The man standing in the locker room was certainly NOT Randall Orton.

(Randy)

I finished changing and left the locker room to go find Jess. Yeah, I suppose it had been uncalled for. We needed to sit down and talk, and I'd treat her like the young adult she was. Figuring I'd find her in catering, since that's where she always was, I headed down there, leaving Cody alone in the locker room.

I picked my way down there and saw John sitting by himself. I sat down across from him, and he cocked his head.

"Did you already talk to Jessie?" I shook my head.

"I haven't seen her since that incident earlier."

"She went looking for you. Ted talked some sense into her. We figured that if we left you alone long enough, you'd see sense on your own."

"Well you were right. Where'd she look for me at?"

"We sent her back to the locker room." I frowned.

"I told her not to go there."

"Yeah, well, we waited until we were sure you would be done. Ted followed her there to make sure you didn't yell at her or anything. Why don't you run on down there now?" I nodded and got up. "And Randy?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything stupid."

I headed down there and was surprised to hear yelling coming from the locker room. I opened up the door and was stunned to see mayhem. Dave Bautista was standing on one side of the room, and a dazed Jess was on the ground, Ted kneeling next to her, helping her sit up. Paul and Cody were in between them, and Steph and Vince were yelling at Dave.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" I roared. The whole room stopped and turned to look at me.

"He hit her!" Cody exclaimed. "Dave hit Jess!"  
"What?" I demanded.

"I did no such thing, Randy," Dave said coolly.

"He was puttin' somethin' in your bag," Jess slurred. She tried to get up, but Ted held her down.

"Just chill out for a second there, hot shot," he said gently.

"C'mon, Randy," Dave said. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. We've been friends for a long time. I just walked in here to come see you, and this brat's sneaking around. So I tried to stop her, and she tripped. It's not my fault."

"He's lying!" Jess exclaimed, almost in tears.

"Yeah, it's true, Randy," Cody said.

"I want him out of here!" Vince yelled.

"You'd better stay back!" Paul warned Dave as he tried to step forward. Everyone was yelling.

"SHUT UP!" The whole room stopped again. I turned to Jess. "I thought I told you not to come back here!" Her mouth opened up almost comically.  
"I came back here looking for you! To apologize!" she said, sounding more coherent now.

"We'll talk later," I told her.

"Randy!" Ted said accusingly.

"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Jess got up, swatting Ted away when he tried to keep her down. Paul tried to pull her into a hug, but she shoved him.

"I just want to be alone, please," she said before dashing out the room.

"Ted, go with her," Vince ordered.

"Yessir," he said respectfully before following her out.

"And Dave, get out of my sight," he said, anger evident in his voice.

"I'm not going-"

"I SAID GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, OR I WILL HAVE YOU ARRESTED!" Dave snorted and left the room.

"Cody, would you like to inform us what has been going on?"

(Jess)

When the figure got up, it wasn't Randy Orton that was grinning at me. It was David Bautista.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just giving something to Randy." He pocketed a small orange bottle, and then walked around me, and I felt like prey being stalked by a lion. Or a tiger. Or maybe even a bear. Oh my.

"Y'know, somehow I don't believe you," I said through gritted teeth. "Where's Randy?"

"Why don't you go run along and find him?"

"Or how about you leave, and I'll go find Vince and Paul?" He lashed out suddenly, grabbing my arm painfully.

"Or how about YOU leave, and we keep this whole meeting our little secret?" I was about to say something, but he put a finger over his lips and made a 'shhh'ing noise. "We don't want anyone to hear us, do you?" My face twisted in pain as he held my arm tighter. "Does that hurt?"

"I dunno, does this?" I pulled my arm back and hit him as hard as I could in the jaw. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cody coming out of the showers and Ted running into the room. Time seemed to slow down, and Dave pulled his arm back and hit ME in the face with what felt like as much force as HE could muster. I fell backwards, and in a moment, Ted was kneeling next to me and Cody was warning Dave to stay back. Vince, Paul, and Steph walked in the room, and everything exploded. Everyone was yelling, but I couldn't quite make everything make sense. After a few minutes, Randy walked in, and everything stopped, only to resume again with twice the force.

I tried to explain to Randy that Dave had been trying to plant something in his bag. Dave started saying something about how I was sneaking in the locker room, and I yelled out to defend myself. Everyone started yelling again, and Randy told us all to shut up. When he told me that he had told me that I shouldn't have been in there anyway, talking like it was MY fault that Dave had hit me.

I got out of there the moment I realized that Randy wouldn't be standing up for me. Practically running out of the room so they wouldn't see me cry, I made my way out to one of the equipment cases, running into walls on more than one occasion, in a dark hallway and hopped up on it so I could bawl my eyes out in peace. With my face buried in my knees I sat there, wondering how I could possibly be so stupid as to think that Randy could be like my father, even if only for the summer. How could I possibly be so stupid to think that I could ever get that part of my life back?

"Jess?" came a gentle southern drawl. I looked up at the figure in front of me.

"Teddy?" I sniffled. He hopped up onto the case with me without another word and sat next to me. He threw an arm around my shoulder and I leaned into it, sobbing my eyes out. I don't know how long we sat there for, but it seemed like hours before either one of us finally said anything.

"Y'know," he said gently. "This seems like it's been happening more and more lately." I looked up at him mournfully.

"I'm sorry Ted, I won't…" I tried to scoot away from him but he wouldn't let me.

"I'll have no such thing. I've been here for you this whole time, and I'll be here for you now. Just listen to me. I don't know what's wrong with Randy, but he really does genuinely care about you, alright? That's why he got worried yesterday, and that's why he was jumpy today. He's guilty for not being able to be there for you. You'll learn to get used to him.

"No I won't," I said quietly. "I'm goin' back home tomorrow." He looked down at me incredulously.

"Are you crazy?" he asked. "You can't leave, because then I'd have to stop you, and then I'd go to jail for kidnapping. And you certainly don't want that, do you?" I laughed a little.

"No, I guess not." He nodded.

"That's right. Now, you wanna go back to the hotel or do you wanna hang out here for a while?"

"Can we just sit here for a little while?"

"Whatever you want, hotshot."

**AN: Yeah, go Teddy. My Ted muse was in a good mood today. He wanted to be helpful. In fact, if you look over in that corner, you can see him setting traps for the plot bunnies. Hey Ted!**

**Ted: I was tired of you not posting anything, so I decided to lend a helping hand. So what if all the plot bunnies I'm catching for you involve me being the nicest guy ever?**

**Me: Ted, you're absolutely right. What would I do without you?**

**Randy: Um, I'd like to be the good guy again.**

**Me: I'm getting there Randy, just have a little patience.**

**Anyway, I'll see y'all later. Might post another chapter today if I can find the inspiration. We'll see. Ciao! **


	9. Saran Wrap Should Be a Ninja Weapon

**AN: Okay, this isn't just a roll anymore. This is freaking brilliance. I give you chapter 9. Or whatever we're on now. Anyway, here ya go. Read on.**

(Randy)

Cody explained everything to us. He had heard Jess walk into the locker room, and was about to ask her to leave when he suddenly heard Dave tell her to keep something their little secret.

"He asked her if it hurt," he explained.

"If what hurt?" Paul asked.

"I peeked around the corner and saw he was grabbing her arm." He laughed a little. "Then he says 'I dunno, does this?' And then she pulls back her arm and slams him, right in the jaw. Well, that's when he hit her back. Ted musta been watching from the doorway, because at the same time we ran in. She had been sent flying backwards. I tackled Dave, and Ted went to make sure she was ok. We started yelling, and I guess that's when you three walked in."

"What did he put in Randy's bag?" Vince asked. Cody shrugged.

"Looked like some pills. If I had to guess, I'd say 'roids. He's definitely got them, so it wouldn't be hard to just plant them."

"That would explain the random outbursts," Steph mused. At once, they rounded on me. "And YOU," she said. "She had just been hit by a guy three times her size! Where do you get off yelling at her like that?"

"I'm sorry!" I said. Everyone was yelling, and I was just trying to make sense of everything." Vince got in my face.

"You've GOT to learn to control your temper. We KNOW you're used to control. But part of being a parent is learning to not get mad at your kid when they do something stupid!"

"I know," I said. "I know."

"Give her some time to cool down now," Paul suggested. "And then make it up to her." I sighed.

"It's kinda weird going from a two year old to a teenager in a day," I admitted. Vince patted me on the shoulder.

"I know. They're the best years. Anyway, I've got to go take care of Dave." He walked out, and Paul and Steph followed.

"Let Ted take care of Jess tonight," Paul said. I just nodded. Steph gave me an awkward hug.

"Things get easier," she promised. "Good luck."

We all got back to the hotel around 11, and Jess was passed out in Ted's arms.

"Where do you want me to take her tonight?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"She doesn't want anything to do with me tonight, so I guess she can just stay with you two." Ted nodded.

"Alright."

John and I went up to our room, and I found myself unable to sleep.

"John?"

"Mmmm?" he asked groggily.

"How do I make it up to Jess?"

"How'm I s'posed to know, you're the one with a kid," he slurred.

"I have a two year old! It's different!"

"Well, you'll have a whole week to think 'bout it. We're leavin' ahead of everyone else."

"I totally forgot about that." He turned over in his bed to look at me and propped up on his elbow.

"You two had fun pranking each other, didn't you?" I nodded. "Then do something to her stuff before you give it to Ted and Cody in the morning." I thought for a moment.

"JC, you're a genius!" I jumped out of bed and grabbed her bag. I opened up the suitcase and revealed about 10 boxed of saran wrap mixed in with her clothes. A wicked grin spread across my face. "Perfect. Muahahahahahaha!" I chuckled.

"Dude," John said. "Get the exorcist in here. I think you've been possessed by Cody."

(Jessie)

I woke up the next morning not QUITE sure how I'd gotten to the hotel, and was a little startled when I realized that it was like 9 o'clock and nobody was in the room. Usually we rolled out for 7. If nobody was in the room, that might mean that…

"John! Randy!" I ran around the room and nobody was in there. I noticed suddenly that this was NOT John and Randy's room. I darted out the door in the clothes I was wearing yesterday. Nobody was in the hallway. I ran down to Randy and John's room and knocked. A cleaning woman came out. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no." I practically sprinted down the stairs, and was immensely relived to see Matt Sydal eating breakfast. "Matt. Please tell me they didn't leave me!" I was almost in tears, and he jumped up and put an arm around my shoulders. He steered me down into a chair next to him.

"Woah, woah. Chill out. Randy and John had to leave out early to go to some promotional stuff. We're not gonna see them for a few days, and Randy figured that you didn't want to be stuck with him."

"So who's room did I wake up in this morning?"

"Well, Ted carried you here, so I guess he brought you to him and Cody's room last night."

"Are they still here?"

"Yeah, they went to go work something out with Mike and John Hennigan. They'll be back in about twenty minutes." I heaved a sigh of relief and my heart slowed down.

"So they didn't leave me?" Matt laughed.

"Nope, you're good. But now you can't get back into your room," he said.

"Y'know, I don't think I could remember the room number if I tried," I sighed. He chuckled again.

"How about I buy you breakfast?" I nodded a little. "Relax, Jess!" I looked up and smiled.

Ted and Cody got back, all smiles.

"Alright. We have a proposition for you." I looked up at them cockeyed from my bagel.

"I'm listening."

"We are in sunny San Diego," Cody said.

"Beaches, you follow?" Ted asked.

"No," I admitted.

"Well, prepare to be informed." We all turned and saw Mike and John Hennigan (AKA Morrison) walking towards us. "I'm John Hennigan, by the way."

"The Miz and Morrison are making a comeback and the first thing we're gonna tackle are the California waves, BABY!"

"John Morrison is about to teach you to take on the waves." He pointed outside and we all saw several surfboards piled on top of a SUV.

"Seriously?" I asked Ted.

"We don't have to be in the next city until like two days from now. We have time to chill at the beach." He threw my swimsuit at me. "C'mon, we're going now." I pulled a quick fist pump and then followed them out the door. 

(Randy)

John and I spent the ride to Arizona in silence. I was just mulling over everything that had happened over the past couple days. Eventually I pulled out my phone, deliberating over whether or not to call Ted to check up on Jess.

"Don't bother," John said. "They're out surfing with Mike and John."

"Oh," I said simply.

"Have you talked to Sam about this?" I looked over at him.

"Y'know, I haven't! She was a teenage girl once!"

"Well, we can certainly hope so…" he mumbled. I punched him in the arm. "Hey. No hitting the driver." I hit him again for good measure, and then dialed Samantha Orton, my wife.

"Hey there, stranger," she said cheerfully. "I haven't talked to you in a whole day!"

"Yesterday was kind of crazy," I said with a sigh. "How much do you know about… Teenagers?" She laughed.

"Having fun with John's runaway?"

"Well, that's just the thing…" I said. "Over the past week, she's kind of become MY runaway."

"Oh really? I thought you didn't like her."

"It's funny what pranks will do to a couple of people who hate each other."

"So what's the problem?" I told her the story of the past couple days.

"So now she hates me."

"Hmmm…" she thought for a moment. "You're right, you suck at teenagers."

"I've got a two year old, what do you people want from me?" I asked with a laugh.

"So you played a prank?"

"Yup."

"Sounds like that's the best way to get through to her. Wait for her to find it and see what she does. And when are you gonna bring her home? I'd like to meet her."

"Well, let's see if we can get her to actually stand to be around me again and then we'll work on meeting the family."

"Al says hey."

"Am I on speaker?"

"Now you are."

"Hey Al!"

"Hello Daddy."

"Al, tell daddy what you learned."

"One two three four five!"

"Very good!"

We idly chatted for a while, and then hung up. I hated being away from home on these long trips, but I'd be back by the end of the week. I had expected to be able to introduce Jess to Sam and Al, but I guess THOSE plans got ruined.

(Jessie)

Oh my goodness, I TOTALLY learned to surf in a day. I was a freakin' NATURAL out there. AND, when we were taking a break and just swimming, I saw a shark. Yeah, a real shark. Might not sound exciting to you, but it was a little baby shark and John and I swam down and POKED it. What? Don't give me that look! All the beaches in Louisiana suck, I only get to go to the beach like once a year.

Anyway, we had lots of fun and didn't leave the beach until sundown. I got to see the sun set over the ocean. It was beautiful, relaxing. If you've never done it before, GO TO YOUR NEAREST WEST COAST SEABOARD. Shameless plugging aside, we went back to the hotel that night thoroughly exhausted. I opened up my suitcase to get PJ's out, and was surprised to see everything individually saran wrap and packed tightly together in another layer of plastic. Ted and Cody were both trying to inconspicuously see what my reaction was going to be. I stared for a few moments… and then just started laughing.

"Did, did Randy do this?" I asked. Ted nodded.

"He figured he could make you less mad by pranking you," he said.

"He was totally right," I said. He tossed me his phone, which was already dialing Randy.

"What's up, Ted?" he asked.

"Not Ted," I said with a grin.

"Did you open your suitcase yet?"

"Yeah. That was sly, my friend."

"I was going to hide your clothes around the hotel, but I opened up your suitcase and there it was! The perfect prank."

"I assume you didn't use all of my Saran wrap," I asked, pulling out a few extra rolls.

"Nope. You can't beat that, though."

"Oh, you just wait," I warned. We both laughed for a moment.

"So I wanted to apologize. Again," he said.

"Yeah, me too," I said.

"I'm just not used to teenagers. Two year olds who can only say three words are a lot different from, well, you."

"Yeah, I know. I know we were all on edge."

"Truce?"

"Not as far as pranks go," I said with a smirk. "But yeah, we're all good."

"Good. Watch Ted and Cody. I'll see you three in a couple days." I hung up and threw Ted his phone.

"So, everything's alright?" I nodded.

"Yeah. Everything's perfect."

**AN: And there you go! Happy make up chapter before I THROW THINGS BACK INTO DISARRAY! Oh, what could I possibly mean? In all likelihood, you'll see tomorrow. Ciao! **


	10. HAPPY FUN LEGACY ALL NIGHT PARTY BASHES!

**AN: I have but one thing to say about this chapter: YAY HAPPY FUN LEGACY ALL NIGHT PARTY BASHES!**

(Jessie)

Well, with no Randy or John around, that stuck me with Ted and Cody. Which isn't necessarily a BAD thing, but I quickly learned that when Daddy was away, Legacy WILL play.

"Alright, Cody, what do you wanna do tonight?" Ted asked suddenly while we were driving the next day.

"Uh, all night Halo and pizza party!"

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah, seriously," Cody sneered. "It's my night to pick what we get to do, so I say we play Halo and eat pizza all night."

"We do that every night anyway," I pointed out.

"We don't have PIZZA every night!" Cody argued.

"Just let it go, Jess," Ted said with a smile. "You get used to it after a while. He goes through phases. Remember when you met us?" I nodded. "That was the after math of the LAST time it was just me and him on the road."

"Oh, so whenever Randy and John leave…"

"WE HAVE HAPPY FUN LEGACY ALL NIGHT PARTY BASHES!" Cody declared excitedly from the back seat.

"Codes, how much caffeine have you had today?" I asked suspiciously.

"Just this coffee stuff from PJ's. Want some?"

"Sure," I said, reaching to take the offered drink.

"WELL YOU CAN'T HAVE IT!" He started laughing at his own joke. I looked up at Ted.

"This is gonna be a LONG ride." He just nodded in agreement.

When we got to the hotel, Cody sweet talked the lady at the reception counter into procuring us a room with a 42 inch flat screen HD super TV.

"Who's the best?" he asked as we all stood in wonder at the largeness of the TV. "Go on, say it!" He came up behind me and Ted and put us both in head locks. "SAY IT!"

"You're the best, Cody!" I said quickly. Ted just grabbed him and flipped him onto the bed. But Cody had a grip on me, and so we all ended up in a pile fighting. Well, I was just fighting to get out, but somehow I kept getting pulled back in. Finally, I pulled Cody into a sleeper, like I had watched all of them do on stage for the past few weeks.

"Jess, you're strangling me."

"GOOD!" I yelled. "Tap!"

"No!" he yelled back, sounding outraged.

"Tap," I warned. "Or get Ted to help you." He reached up to pry my arms from around his neck, but Ted held them down.

"You guys suck." He tapped on Ted's arm, and we both jumped up and high fived.

"Hey," Ted said after a moment. "Didn't you say your grandpa was a wrestler?"

"Yup. Big Slim."

"That makes you a third generation wrestler, just like me," he pointed out. My mouth opened.

"Dude, you're totally right!"

"Hey Teddy, I think Legacy always needed a little femininininininty," Cody said, struggling with the last word. While Cody tried to figure out how to pronounce femininity, Ted looked at me with a grin.

"How would you like to be the official fourth member of Legacy?"

"That would be flipping awesome, Ted! But, does Legacy even count anymore?" He frowned at me. They had officially broken up at Wrestlemania.

"Legacy will ALWAYS count, and don't you forget it." I laughed.

"Alright, sir, I would be honored to be the fourth member of the everlasting Legacy," I said.

"Now it's REALLY a Happy Fun Legacy All-Night Party Bash!" Cody yelled.

"How did he remember that?" I asked Ted.

"Really, he does STRANGE things when he's hyper." We looked over at him and saw him chugging a Coke.

"That's THREE tonight, boy and girl! It's gonna be CRAZY!" He grabbed another one, and I snatched it from him.

"I think I'm gonna need a couple of these before the night's over," I said. Ted shrugged and grabbed one, too.

We were right. It would be a crazy night. I warned them, I get STRANGE when on caffeine. And I hadn't had any in weeks, so any resistance I had built up was GONE. I'm pretty sure that if anyone had walked in on us that night, they would have thought that we had been drinking something a lot more alcoholic. But I can attest to the fact that no alcohol was in the room that night. I guess that doesn't change the fact that around 1 in the morning, the hotel management came by to tell us to shut up. And we did… for a while. It wasn't till 3 that morning that the big guy showed up. The head honcho, who had been on tour with us for a while.

When someone started banging on the door, we played rock paper scissors to see who would have to deal with whoever it was. I lost, and was pushed towards the door. I opened it up, and was speechless.

The man on the other side took one look at me, and then stepped in. He grabbed my shoulder and steered me into the room to face down Ted and Cody. The moment they looked at him, they both shut up.

"Uh, hey Mark," Ted said. The big Mark Calloway had come to our room at three in the morning. NOTHING good could come of this. He still had his big hand on my shoulder, and I was terrified.

"Help me!" I mouthed to my Legacy brothers. Cody's eyes got big, and he shook his head inconspicuously.

"That's the Undertaker," he mouthed back.

"Boys," Mark rumbled. "If you two can't handle having a kid with you, she'll have to stay with me."

"Well, uh," Ted said. "She would be with John, but-"

"Cut the crap. Vince already told me. Now either you three shut up, or she comes on permanent vacation with me and Glenn until Randy and John come back. Do you understand?" I nodded my head vigorously, but Ted and Cody grinned at each other evilly.

"I dunno Mark. She's a bad influence. Maybe you SHOULD take her for the night," Cody said with a grin. My eyes got big.

"Really, Mr. Mark, we didn't mean to be loud, I'll make sure they shut up."

"No, no Mark," Ted said. "We would have gone to bed HOURS ago if she wouldn't have been here."

"Alright, then," Mark said. "I guess that settles it. You'll have to come with me, miss." He steered me out the door.

"But… but… Ted! Cody! You guys suck!" The door to our room shut, and I was alone in the hallway with the Undertaker. I looked up at him, slightly terrified. He looked down at me and winked.

"Give it an hour. We'll get them back." If it was possible, my jaw dropped a little lower.

"Seriously?"

"Sure! We've all got to have a little fun."

So, we went up to Mark and Glenn's room, and I found myself hanging out with Kane and the Undertaker for an hour. Well, it was more like I sat awkwardly for an hour. That's when Mark grinned at me and opened up his phone. He put the phone on speaker and set it on the table in front of us.

"Hey, Ted," he said.

"Hey, Mark," Ted mumbled sleepily.

"Did Jessica go back to your room?"

"What?" he asked, suddenly sounding more alert. "No! I mean, I thought she was with you!"

"She was. I just heard the door shut, and she wasn't in the room. Did she go back down to your room?"

"No! When did she leave? How long has it been? Did she talk to anyone before she left?" Cody could be heard in the background, and Ted explained everything to him. Cody groaned.

"Aww, Randy's gonna kill us!" Cody exclaimed.

"It must have been like 15 minutes ago." He motioned at me and Glenn to go. Glenn nodded, and I followed him out of the room.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To bribe the doorman," he said with a grin. I've been waiting to get back Ted and Cody for a prank they played a couple weeks ago. You needed to come with me because they're about to go up to my room and check around."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. EVERYONE listens to Mark. He's Mark Calloway, for cryin' out loud."

The doorman agreed to tell Ted and Cody that I had left, and we got in the elevator the moment they were running down the stairs. We headed back up to Mark's room, and he was talking to Randy.

"Yeah, I'm sorry to be bothering you this early. We're teaching Ted and Cody a lesson. So when they call you saying that they lost Jessica, she's right here."

"Hey Randy!" I called. Mark chuckled.

"He says hey. Alright, I'll talk to you later."

Marks phone started ringing again a few minutes later.

"Mark! The guy at the door says he saw her leaving! What are we gonna do?"

"Relax, boys. She can't go anywhere at 4 in the morning. We'll go looking for her when the light comes up. Go back to bed."

"No! I've gotta find her! It's cold outside, its dark, who knows what kinda freaks are out there…"

"We are in SO much trouble!" Cody said. I was feeling bad now.

"Can I tell them?" I whispered. Mark laughed silently, and then nodded.

"Ted?"

"Jess?" he said, sound immensely relieved.

"Everything's ok, Ted. I've been with Mark the whole time."

"What? But… We went up there, and..."

"That's what you get for handing me over to the scary guy, haha!" I said loudly. "No offence, Mr. Mark."

"None taken," he rumbled.

"We're not dead!" Cody exclaimed in the background.

"Don't, DON'T move!" Ted ordered. "I'm comin' up there." He hung up, and in about thirty seconds he was knocking on the door. I opened it up and grinned at him. He hugged me. "Don't EVER do that again!"

"Yeah!" Cody piped in. "Do you WANT Randy to kill us?"

"It was Mark's idea…" I muttered.

"Have you two learned your lesson?" Mark asked.

"Y-yes sir," Ted said. I walked out to go with Ted, and Mark stopped us.

"Y'know, I've got a son about your age. You two should meet." I smiled.

"Alright, I'd like to meet him. G'night, Mark, Glenn."


	11. They Never Said the Business Was Easy

**AN: Y'know, I was mulling over my miserable life today, when I realized that writing this, and being able to see you beautiful people and your wonderful responses sort of makes me feel needed. So I guess I'm trying to say thank you. Y'all are the best =)**

Needless to say, when we went to the arena the next day, I was exhausted. I made my way to catering and was delighted to see a couch situated on one of the walls. I sprawled out on the couch and was well on my way to a major nap, when I was rudely interrupted by one Chris Jericho.

"C'mon, we've got things to do."

"No Chris," I murmured. "I'm tired."

"Well whose fault is it you were up all night?"

"Ted DiBiase Jr. and Mark Calloway," I said.

"Well that's just too bad. We've got things to do. People to see. Kids to train."

"What're you talkin' about, Chris?"

"If you get up, I'll show you!"

"I'd rather just take a nap," I said. I turned over and shut my eyes.

"Alright," he said, sounding sorry. "You force me to call in the big guns."

"Bring it," I mumbled. He walked away for a few minutes, and then I heard him behind me again.

"Man, Paul, I'm pooped."

"Me too, Chris. Oh, look! A couch!"

"It looks a little lumpy, but I bet it's a very comfortable couch!" I turned over and saw Big Show and Chris standing over me.

"I swear, if you two even think about it-"

"Going down!" Paul said. Two large butts descended towards me, and I couldn't get out of the way fast enough.

"GAH! YOU'RE SQUISHING ME!" I wailed.

"Do you hear something, Paul?"

"No, Christopher. I did not." I struggled for a few moments, and then gave up.

"Fine, I'll sleep UNDER you two."

"Are you awake yet?" Chris asked.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. They both hopped up, and I reluctantly got up with them.

"Alright, my young friend. You're coming with me to the ring," Chris declared.

"You got it boss. Let's go."

We went out to the ring and I was more than a little confused.

"So what's the dealio, hombre? What are we doing here?"

"See, tonight is a house show. And they're thinking about starting a feud between me and Randy. So, tonight, I'm gonna trash talk Randy, except he's not going to be here. YOU are going to be front row, and when I call him out, you're going to start trash talking, and then I'm gonna pull you into the ring and we're gonna have a kinda sorta wrestling match. My jaw dropped.

"Seriously?" He nodded, a grin spreading across both of our faces. "Dude, you're my favorite Canadian!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Now, You need to learn to take a bump."

For the next hour or so, I was taught the basics. How to effectively look like the Walls of Jericho hurt, how to take a Codebreaker without actually breaking my back, the things that would save my life that night.

"So how does this match end?"

"Well, it's a kinda sorta match. I'm just gonna lay you out, and then they'll take you into the back. You'll only get to see about half of the show. Fun stuff, right?"

"Dude, I am SO pumped!"

So, about 3 hours later, I was sitting in the crowd at ringside getting ready for my big debut. I hadn't actually gotten to sit in the crowd and watch a show, so this was pretty exciting for me. Ted and Cody had a match, and they both waved and high fived me on the way to the ring. All the silly marks around me thought I was just the coolest thing since sliced bread since the wrestlers were paying special attention to me. I was so cool that night.

I grew more and more nervous as the night wore on. And then, there was a countdown and Chris Jericho's music blared out across the speakers. My heart was pounding in my chest. I was freaking excited.

"You troglodytes make me sick. I mean listen to this. Randy Orton has done terrible, AWEFUL things! He punted HOW many people in the skull? And before a few weeks ago, you were all perfectly sane. You hated him because you knew what he was: a slimeball, scumbag, parasite! But then, just because his two cronies turn on him, you all decide to cheer for him! What is your problem? You parasitic hypocrites!" He hopped out of the ring and then went around the crowd arguing with people. And then he got to me. My heart felt like it was gonna thump right out of my chest. "And look at YOU!" he yelled in my face. I was decked out in Randy Orton gear. "You're probably the biggest hypocrite of them all! Let me guess. You HATED Randy Orton because he was a bad man, but then he started beating up Ted and Cody, and then you just HAD to have all of his stuff. Are you his biggest fan?" I was slowly getting angrier.

"Randy Orton could beat you ANY day!" I yelled in his face. We got nose to nose exchanging insults until he backed up.

"Alright, alright. Let's settle this. How about I call out Randy, and then we'll really see who's the best." The crowd roared. We all turned to the gorilla position in anticipation, and then, Voices hit. I looked over at Chris, a little confused. He subtly winked, and then laughed into the mic. "Wouldya look at that? He's too afraid to come out!" I defended Randy's honor, and Chris kept laughing. "Alright, why don't you and I have a match? Right now!" The crowd boo'd, but I jumped over the railing and got into the ring. We stood across from each other, and as the bell rang and I didn't quite know what to do, Chris ran over and put me in a headlock.

"This was not part of the plan," I hissed into his armpit.

"There was a change of plans. Just roll with it."

"I can't just roll with it!" I whispered angrily. "I have three hours of training under my belt and this was not part of the pl-OW!" He flipped me onto the mat and then put me into an arm bar.

"Stop whining and just roll with it! Just job for me!"

"I hate you Chris Jericho." The ref got down and asked me if I wanted to tap.

"Don't do it, baby girl. Randy's about to come out," Steve told me.

"You got it," I grunted, trying my hardest to look like I was in pain. I wriggled out of Chris's arm bar and got back to my feet. Chris advanced on me again.

"Codebreaker," he mouthed. I turned to run away, and he grabbed my shoulders. He jumped, and I took the Codebreaker PERFECTLY. He pulled me into the center of the ring, and then he pulled me into the Walls of Jericho. I sold being in pain, and then my knight in shining armor ran out. Randy slid into the ring and had a few words with the ref. Steve smiled and turned around, acting like something was distracting him. Randy pulled Chris off of me, and then hit a wicked RKO.

"Get on the top rope, and jump off. He'll catch you."

"I'm glad YOU two had time to work things out." I smiled and clambered onto the top rope. Chris got up, and I jumped off the turnbuckle like Matt showed me to. Just a simple crossbody, but like I said, I had about three hours of training under my belt, so I was pretty proud of my accomplishment. Chris caught me and took the fall, and the ref, Steve, counted to 3. The crowd erupted in cheers, and Randy gave me his psychotic look. He scrutinized me, and then raised my arm. The crowd cheered again, and I looked over at him and he was still scrutinizing me. "Do it," I mouthed.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Absolutely." He smirked, and in one swift motion, let my arm go and hit the RKO. Out the corner of my eye, I could see him doing his angry post-RKO movements. He grabbed the mic that Chris had dropped.

"That is what happens when you trust A VIPER!" He threw the mic down and stalked his way to the back. Chris followed him, and some medics helped me down the ramp. When I exited, I was met by claps and cheers from all my wrestler guys. Chris and Randy were standing next to each other, and I walked over and hit them both.

"Really?" I asked. "Really?" I hit them again. Mike walked over and joined me, just for kicks and giggles, I think.

"Yeah, really? Really?" He repeated.

"Shut up, Mike!" I said, turning on him. I turned back to Randy and Chris. "When did YOU get here? And why didn't anybody tell me the plan had changed?"

"Well, I did," Chris said.

"Yeah, when it was already too late!" Randy laughed and put an arm around my shoulder.

"Aw, lighten up. Everything worked out, didn't it? You were amazing out there!"

"Uh, of COURSE I WAS! Did you expect anything different?" I backed away from Randy, and ran into someone. I looked up slowly and jumped in surprise when Mark was grinning down at me.

"Good job out there kid." Apparently Randy saw me breathing heavily, because he just hugged me.

"I was TERRIFIED!" I said into his shirt.

"I know, I know. It's ok." He rubbed my back gently, and it suddenly became weird, in a good way. I hadn't had a dad hug in nearly 6 months. He pulled away and looked at me with a smile. "Are you ok? You're shaking."

"I do that when I'm nervous," I explained. "But yeah, I'm fine."

"You did great out there," he said quietly. Ted and Cody ran out of nowhere and practically tackled us.

"It's official! You're a third generation wrestler!" Ted said.

"And then they became FOUR!" Cody yelled. Vince walked up behind us and patted me on the back.

"Excellent job. You looked like a natural out there. You might have a job here in the future." My eyes got big, and I turned to Chris.

"Dude. Chris, have I ever told you you're my favorite Canadian?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, I had oughta be."

"Very good job." We all turned around and saw Dave standing there clapping with an evil grin. "But Vince, I'd like to know something. Why does she get this really cool honor? You wouldn't be BRIBING her to keep quiet about that incident with me, would you? And Randy, can you explain something to me? If she's John's little cousin, why are you hugging her like that? Is there something… _Going on _between you two?" Randy growled savagely and advanced on Dave. Ted and I both grabbed one of his arms.

"Where do you get off?" he snarled at Dave. "Can someone get him out of here before I have to go to jail?"

"No, really, Randy, we'd like to know." Paul L. pushed Dave a little.

"Shut up, Dave."

"C'mon, Randy? Or maybe YOU'D like to answer, Jessica. What's going on between you and Randy?" Now he was insulting me personally.

"Look, you jerk," I said, letting go of Randy and advancing on Dave myself. I got up in his face, well, more like I got up in his chest and he looked down at me, slightly amused. Cody pulled me back and held me. "My PARENTS died. John took me in as a favor. Is it alright with you if Randy looks out for me? Hmm?"

"Oh yeah, I bet he's 'looking out for you' alright," he said with a smirk.

"LEMME GO!" Randy and I both roared at the same time. I fought to get out, and it took Cody and Chris to keep me from attacking Dave, and Paul W. joined Ted in keeping Randy back.

"Nice shiner," Dave said. "Was that me or Randy?" I wriggled out of Chris and Cody's grasp and rushed Dave, only to find myself stopped by Paul L.

"Get him out of here!" Vince yelled. The security FINALLY showed up and escorted Dave away. "How did he get back here in the first place? I thought I banned him from house shows!" he screamed at some corporate guy. I was still struggling with Paul to run after Dave. I think Randy must have been doing the same thing, because he was demanding that Cody and Big Paul let him go.

"Jess," Paul said. I did everything in my power to get away from him. "Jessica!" He yelled. I stopped and looked up at him. "Stop." I took a deep breath and nodded. I looked behind me at Randy, who had shaken the two other men off of him and looked like he was still going to hit something.

"Vince, I am going to kill him," he said, annunciating each word fiercely.

"He's gone," Vince assured him. Next Monday after the Pay-per-view, that's it."

"Is he going to be at any house shows between now and then?"

"No. He shouldn't have been here tonight. I have no idea how he got in, but I can assure you that SOMEBODY will pay." He finished his statement by turning to the corporate guy in the suit again. Randy turned to me.

"I think, that until this settles down, you should stay on tour and not come home with me." Steph, who had been standing in the background, came forward and nodded.

"If he goes public with that accusation, it could be bad for Randy."

"I know. Randy, I'm-"

"Don't even say it," he warned. "This is NOT your fault." We looked at each other for a moment, and then he advanced and hugged me again. "And damn it, I'll hug you if I want to." He was shaking, too now, but I figured that it was more from anger than anything. I was still shaking from a strange mixture of nervousness and fear. But despite everything, right there, at that moment…

I felt safe.

**AN: Don't you just wanna go hunt Dave down?**

**Randy: HAHA TEDDY! WHO'S THE GOOD GUY NOW?**

**Ted: Chill out, Randy. I caught that plot bunny because I was tired of hearing you whining.**

**Me: *Rolls eyes* Boys, shut up.**

**Review review review!**


	12. Evil Genius Comes in All Sizes

**AN: Meh, short chapter, but I think I deserve it after all the chaps I've been spitting out over the past few days. More evil Dave! Enjoy!**

(Jessie)

The next few days passed pretty uneventfully, and soon it was time for June's Pay-per-view, Over the Limit, as I remember it.

"Look, Jess," Randy told me when we got to the arena the show was at. "Dave's still going to be running around.

"I don't need a babysitter…" I muttered. We had been arguing over it the whole way there. "What if I promise just to stay in catering the whole time?"

"There might not be people in catering the whole time," John pointed out.

"Look, I'd just feel safer if somebody was with you, just in case. For me?" I looked into the front seat and saw his face.

"Fine, Randall, but I will NOT be happy," I said grumpily.

"Yeah yeah, suck it up. You'll thank me for it later."

And so, that's how I found myself just kinda chillin' in a room with a couch, a TV, and Mike Mizanin.

"I'm bored!" Mike whined about the first five minutes we were in there.

"Yeah, well I'm not exactly having the time of my life, either," I mumbled.

"Wanna play a game?" he asked suddenly.

"Sure!" I said. "Why don't you just whip out Monopoly?"

"Aw, don't get sarcastic with me. I'm just bored…" I rolled my eyes.

"Would you like me to remind you WHO'S babysitting WHO?" I asked.

And that's about how the next two hours lasted. By the time Mike got the text, we were both up to about HERE with each other.

"Y'know, you're a lot more fun when we're doing something interesting," he said. His phone rang once and he looked down at it while I laughed out loud in disbelief.

"Wow, y'know, I think you might just be a girl!" He smiled as he read his phone.

"Wulp, we won't have to deal with each other anymore! Randy says go meet him in his locker room. Can you make it there on your own?"

"If it meant getting some space from YOUR whiny butt, I'd flipping teleport," I mumbled under my breath.

"What was that? Hmm? Did you just INSULT the MIZ? Well, I'll have you know that I'm AW-" I ran out the door before he could finish.

"I said love ya Mizzy! Bye!" Feeling mighty pleased that Randy was finally letting me have some space, I practically skipped down the hallway. I found the locker rooms, and then tried to figure out which one was Randy's. I knocked on the first one.

"Yeah?" Matt answered.

"S'Randy in there?"

"Nope! Check the door two down from this one."

"Thanks Matt!" I went down two doors and knocked. No one answered, so I opened the door.

What I saw inside was NOT what I expected.

(Randy)

I breathed easier when we convinced Jess to stay with Mike through the show. He didn't have a match, so everything was easier. We finished up all our matches and saw that Dave was safely AWAY from all of us. John and I stopped by catering to get food. I was sure to pick up a plate of cookies for Jess, and then we walked down the hall. Vince stopped us.

"That was a great job out there, John," he said with a smile. John had AA'd Dave off the top of the car on stage. It was pretty nice, I guess.

"Thanks, Vince," he said. "Did you make sure he left the arena?"

"Well, not yet. He had to have a few minutes to get his bags together. Jessica is still with Mike, isn't she?" I nodded.

"Yep, she should be." All of us breathed a silent sigh of relief, I think, and then we chatted for about 10 minutes. "Well," I said, when we had talked for a LITTLE too long. "I had better go relieve Mike."

"What about Mike?" We all turned at once, and saw Mike himself walking toward us. Apparently he had already made a stop at catering, because he was toting a plate of food.

"What are you doing?" John asked, the first one of us to be able to talk again.

"Randy texted me and told us to send Jess back to his locker room," he explained. "Tell 'em, Randy." I looked down to make sure I didn't have pockets. I was still in my ring trunks and a t-shirt.

"My phone's with my stuff," I said stiffly. "How long ago was that." He quickly checked his phone.

"Exactly 7 minutes." John and I glanced at each other and took off in a run to the locker room.

(Jessie)

After Randy had sent the text, and how stressed he was at leaving me alone, it kind of shocked me that nobody was in the locker room.

"Randy?" I called. With a shrug, I walked in and sat on a bench. I decided to wait, and I pulled out my iPod and started playing with some games. About two seconds after I got comfortable, the locker room door that I had propped open shut. I looked up and to my horror, Dave had been standing behind the door the whole time. He quietly shut the door, and locked it.

"Now, you listen to me," he said, dangerously quiet. "You are going to tell them that you never saw me putting anything in Randy's bag, and that day, you fell and hurt your eye." I absently rubbed the yellowing bruise on my face and laughed nervously.

"Mr. Bautista, think about it. Ted AND Cody saw you. And there's really no way you can take back those things that you said the other day. And do you HONESTLY think I would HELP you after all this?" He groaned angrily.

"Listen to me. I'm about to lose my JOB. I have two little girls. How do you expect me to take care of them without money coming in?"

"You're crazy! You need help!" He yelled again and rushed me. I jumped out of his way and made a run for the door. He ran after me and grabbed the back of my shirt, pulling me back. I elbowed him in the face, and he held me down. An arm wrapped around my throat and squeezed. I struggled to get out, but have you ever SEEN the dude? He's huge!

"SWEAR YOU'LL HELP ME!" he roared. I grabbed weakly at his arm, not able to pry it away. That's when Randy and John came, finally.

"DAVE!" Randy yelled from the other side of the door. "I SWEAR, IF YOU DON'T UNLOCK THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW, I'LL F- KILL YOU!"

"Tell them you're ok," he hissed in my ear, letting me have enough air to yell.

"HELP!" I bellowed. I could hear Randy on the other side of the door throwing his weight against it. The arm around my throat tightened again. "Dave," I said weakly. "Mr. Dave. This is stupid. Just let me go." The banging on the door stop momentarily, and then a key could be heard scraping in the lock. The door opened, and John and Randy ran through before stopping short in their tracks.

"Dave," John said. "Listen to me. If you let go now, we won't press charges. You're gonna lose your job. That's already been decided. But do you want to go to jail?" Slowly but surely, the grip loosened, until finally I fell to the ground. Randy came and pulled me away from Dave, before getting up and punching Dave square in the jaw.

"C'mon, Randy," John said gently. "Let's go back to the hotel." Randy let out an angry growl, then helped me up and followed John out of the arena.


	13. Fast Forward

**AN: Alright, here we are. Next chapter. We borrow Edge and Christian's time machine and hop forward just to spice up the mystery. No worries, I don't think we'll need the time machine until we finish the story of what actually happened over the summer. Read on!**

(Jessie)

After the fiasco on Sunday, Randy decided that we would all be safer if either Cody or Ted stayed with me while we were in the arena the next day. It was official; Dave would go onstage that night and announce his resignation. And then, we'd all be able to breathe easy. But until then, I was still stuck with a baby sitter under strict orders that NOBODY was to leave my side unless Randy or John himself physically walked over and told us so. And that was all fine and dandy, until I managed to activate that amazing ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Cody and I were walking to catering from his locker room when some creative guy pulled him to the side.

"Stay right here," Cody said, placing me firmly on an equipment case. "I'm going to be right over there for like, ten seconds," he said forcefully, pointing to a corner. "You won't even be out of my sight, so don't spontaneously combust. Got it?"

"Roger that, Master Chief. Go finish your business." He laughed and walked into the corner not 15 feet away. I sat looking around, still star struck after all these weeks. Watching the crew do their business was one of the funnest things I got to do on that whole trip. Don't ask why, it just was.

Anyway, everything was fine, right until an angry "YOU!" echoed across the whole backstage area. I looked up, and there he was again. My personal worst nightmare. Dave approached me, taking long, fast strides. "This is YOUR fault!" he roared. "If you had never been here, I would STILL HAVE MY JOB!" He was 10 steps away now.

Time seemed to slow down.

9 steps.

I hopped down off the case, standing my ground.

8 steps.

I was resisting the urge to tell him to bring it on.

7 steps.

Cody was yelling in the background.

6 steps.

I couldn't resist anymore, and spread my arms with a cocky "Come on!"

5 steps.

Someone stepped in between us.

Everyone backstage stopped in their tracks, even Dave. We were all quiet for a moment. It was like a standoff in an old western, accented by the mystery man's cowboy hat.

"Now, Dave," he said, quietly but firmly. "From what I heard, we've already established that hurtin' this young lady is a bad idea. Hurting her now won't change the things you've already done." Dave was silent, and then turned around without another word. He shook off the security guy that grabbed his arm and exited the arena of his own accord. A collective sigh of relief was breathed among those of us backstage, and I finally turned my attention back to my savior. He turned around…

I think I might have died a little inside in that moment.

"Are you alright, ma'am?"

"You're Shawn Michaels," I said in awe. He chuckled a little.

"Yeah," he said. "And you're Jessie." I turned to Cody, who had appeared beside me. I tugged on his sleeve.

"Cody. Shawn Michaels knows my name."

"Are you ok?" he asked. "Dave looked like he was on something."

"I don't care. That's Shawn Michaels." Paul walked over out of somewhere and laughed at my dumbfoundedness.

"Is she always like that?" Shawn asked with a smile.

"Only for like, the first couple seconds she knows you. It gets better, I promise."

True to Paul's word, I chilled out after a few minutes basking in my hero's glory. We went to Vince's impromptu office he had set up for himself that night and hung out. It wasn't long until Randy invaded the office, raising heck.

"AGAIN? Really? How is it possible that he was anywhere around her again?"

"Bad luck?" I said, trying to be helpful. Randy sighed and popped a squat next to me on the couch I was sitting on. Shawn chuckled.

"I don't know what your plan to get out of that one was, but you looked like you were ready to take him on." I grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, well I didn't really know what to do. I figured if he actually DID something, Cody was right there to stop him. I'd rather go down fightin' then turning tail and runnin'." Shawn nodded.

"A good philosophy."

"One that gives me gas," Randy muttered.

"Aw, chill out, DAD," Paul said. "She's brave. That's a good thing." I was practically glowing with pride. Randy looked over at me and musta saw the look on my face. He gave me a half smile and put an arm around my shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess so." He ruffled my hair, and I laughed and tried to wiggle away.

"C'mon, kids," Shawn said, getting up. "Lemme treat you to dinner."

(Present)

I looked out the window of my youth minister's house. It had already gotten dark. I looked at the time on my phone. We must have been there for two hours talking about my summer.

"Andrew," I said quietly. "I really don't want to talk anymore." He looked around, too.

"Yeah. I guess you've told me enough." I was desperately trying to convey the fact that talking about this was difficult. "Look, I'm uh, going to go fix dinner. You can stay in the guest room. Make yourself at home. But, go check in the backyard. There's somebody who's been waiting to see you." Bummed out, I went outside to figure out what he was talking about, and then was super surprised to see none other than my dog, Rupert, waiting for me.

"Rupert!" My big Catahoula dog was running around in the back. He ran at me and we had a happy girl-and-her-dog reunion. "Well, at least SOMEBODY missed me," I said. "Can I bring him in?" I called to my guardian.

"Knock yourself out." I led him by the collar into the guest bedroom and he jumped on the bed. We just laid there for a while. I had missed him, and he was helping me to NOT think about everything that I had just lost in a matter of a few hours.

Twenty minutes later, my phone went off.

'Dinner's ready', the text message read. I groaned angrily.

"You could at least have the decency to actually TALK TO ME!" I yelled. Moments later, the phone started to ring. I rolled my eyes and answered. "This is NOT what I meant and you know it."

"Well geez, what did I do?" My jaw dropped as the light southern drawl came out of the other end of the line.

"Teddy?" I asked. I was almost in tears. "You called!"

"Well, I told you I would, Hotshot," he replied gently.

"Yeah, I know, but…"

"I understand." He paused for a moment. "Nobody wanted to let you down."

"Yeah, I know, but… I just wish I understood. I feel like it was my fault."

"No, no no no no no. Whatever it is, it's not your fault. I promise, as soon as I pry the information from him, you'll be the first to know." I smiled.

"Ted, you're the best brother a Jessie could ask for." I could practically hear his smile on the other end.

"Yeah, I know. What- Cody!"

"Cody's there?" I asked.

"Yeah. The dork wants to talk to you. Here, I'll put you on speaker."

"Cody!"

"Look, I thought I told you to wait until I got here to leave. Didn't I?"

"That you did, Codes," I admitted.

"So, I'm gonna buy you an Xbox and send it down to you, alright? And you have to name it something good that goes with Sven. Cuz they'll be like brothers or something." I laughed.

"How can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?"  
"Because you just can, ok?"

"He's drinking a Rockstar, in case you were wondering," Ted informed me.

"HALO!" The three of us just started laughing over the line. Andrew knocked on the door.

"Dinner's ready."

"Not hungry." He sighed.

"I'll be out here if you need me."

"Who's that?" Ted asked.

"The youth minister," I explained.

"Is he being nice?" Cody asked. "'Cause I'll take him out."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd be REAL scared of your chicken legs, Codes. Do us all a favor and put on some kneepads." We chuckled, but then I sighed. "He's fine, I'm just bein' a brat. I'm a little on edge after all that. I didn't see it coming."

"I don't even think Randy did," Ted said honestly. "I don't know what his reasoning was, but you can bet that whatever it was, he was thinking of you first."

We spent a while longer talking about nothing. I think they knew that's what I needed. I told them all about Rupert, who promptly fell asleep moments after I got on the phone. An hour later, I just wanted to sleep.

"I'm going to bed, guys."

"Night!" Cody said.

"Hey, Ted, Cody?"

"Yeah?" they both said.

"Thanks, guys."

"Anytime, Jess. You know we're here for you," Ted said.

"Yeah, what he said," Cody piped in.

"Bye, Jess."

"Bye, guys."

(Randy)

We drove for hours and made it to our hotel somewhere in Mississippi. I had been running through everything that had happened over the past couple of months and suddenly wondered if Jess had been doing the same thing. My phone suddenly started ringing.

"Orton," I answered.

"It's Ted." He sounded pissed off.

"What's wrong?"

"I just got off the phone with Jess." I was silent. "I think maybe you oughta call her."

"She doesn't want to talk to me." He laughed out loud in disbelief.

"Randy, she practically idolized you the whole summer. If she sounds mad, she doesn't mean it. She thinks SHE did something wrong. At least EXPLAIN to her why." I sighed.

"Alright. I'll call her tomorrow."

"Promise?" Cody asked from the background.

"Yes, I promise I'll call tomorrow."

"Randy?"

"Yeah, Ted?"

"I swear I'll hurt you if you don't. You're not the only one who cares."

(Jess)

I tried to sleep, I really did. But every time I started dozing off, I started thinking about everything, and it woke me up again. It was the worst feeling in the world, to know that you had had everything you ever wanted only to have it taken away from you. And even worse than that was the knowledge you'd never get it back again.

I must have stayed awake for hours crying that night, and about at one the next morning, I decided that maybe if I just bit the bullet and faced down all my happy memories, the pain would start to fade.


	14. Change Sucks

**AN: Back to the past, folks. Don't get lost. **

(Jessie)

We went to some restaurant with the whole crew after everything at the arena was wrapped up. Me, Randy, John, Ted, Cody, Vince, Steph, Paul, and Shawn's wife, Rebecca. It was fun, and seemed as normal as a family gathering. We talked and joked around, and I really enjoyed myself.

"So, when's your birthday, Jess?" John had asked. We had gotten on the subject somehow, and I had remained quiet the whole time.

"I don't have a birthday," I said with a grin. "I'm going to remain perpetually 16 for the rest of my life." Stephanie laughed from across the table.

"You've gotta have a birthday. C'mon, when is it?" I shook my head.

"Nope! No birthday, sorry people." A humorous groan sprang up from around the table.

"C'mon, Jess!" Cody said. "I'll tell you MY birthday!"

"Dude, I can just look up yours on like Wikipedia."

"Who says it's true?" he sneered.

"Because you probably wrote your whole Wikipedia page," I sneered back. Everyone laughed.

"It's funny 'cause it's true, Codes," Ted said.

"Shut up, Teddy."

"So really, Jess," John said, turning the attention back to me. "I wanna know." Ted pulled out his phone and winked at me.

"I got you," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked with a laugh. "I know I'm fantastic, but I do NOT have my own page on Wikipedia." After a few moments of tapping away on his phone, he held it up triumphantly.

"Facebook, baby!"

"NO!" I said.

"Jessie Long, born July 25 nineteen ninety three!"

"Jokes on you, Ted!" I said quickly. "That's not my real birthday." Randy turned to me.

"Look me in the eye and say that." I looked him dead in the eyes.

"That isn't my real…" I stopped with a sigh. "Alright, alright. You got me."

"You're an awful liar," he said with a smirk.

"Ted!" Cody said suddenly. "That's in like, a MONTH! Think of how much time that gives us to plan a happy fun Legacy all night BIRTHDAY party bash!"

"You all suck, you know that?"

We went back to the hotel and I got situated on my couch. I had ended the arguments with John about who would get to sleep on the couch weeks ago, and so it was the official sleeping arrangement. Everything was fine until about 12, when a freak storm popped up.

It was a loud one. The lighting was bright, and the thunder was deafening. I found myself… not as scared as usual. Didn't change the fact that I couldn't sleep through it, but hey, I was making progress. Twenty minutes into the storm, Randy got up and shook my shoulder gently.

"You alright?" he asked quietly.

"Fine. A little shaky, but I'm fine."

"Alright. If you need anything, we're right here."

"I know. Night, Randy."

"Night."

(Randy)

I tossed and turned for a while. I was sure that Jess must have drifted off by then, so I rolled over and voiced my thoughts.

"Hey John?"

"Hmm?" I laughed a little. Apparently he was having trouble sleeping, too.

"You wanna hear something… weird?"

"Randy, my whole life is weird. But lay it on me."

"Today, when I found out that Shawn was the guy who stepped in between her and Dave… I felt…" I paused.

"What?"

"Guilty," I finally said.

"Why?"

"I… don't know. It's like the same kind of guilt I feel for not being there for Sam and Alanna when I'm away on tour. It should have been me standing there. It should have been me protecting her."

"Y'know, every time we have these conversations I tell you. You're the one with a kid. Not me."

"Yeah, I know. But what do you think?"

"You wanna know what I think?" he asked, propping himself up on one elbow like he always does when he's about to have a stroke of genius. "I think that in the couple of weeks you've known her, you really truly think of her as your daughter. There. Sleep on it." He promptly rolled over again.

(Jessie)

Well, as it turns out, I HADN'T fallen asleep yet. I sat listening to the two converse, and when John said it… I almost fell of my couch. I knew I felt that way, but I wasn't sure if Randy did. He was quiet for a few moments, and then he spoke again.

"John, I think you're right." My heart nearly stopped. Maybe, just maybe, I would find what I lost here.

The next day, we left for the arena and got there that night. I was on top of the world, all things considered. So when I gallivanted into the locker room, the somber faces all around didn't faze me one bit.

"Dude! My Legacy bros! Why the long faces?" Ted and Cody looked up at me.

"Why don't you go hang out with Zack Ryder?" Cody snapped.

"What's wrong, Codes?" I asked.

"Yeah," Randy asked. We had been joking back and forth all day. They were ruining the mood.

"The draft's next week," Ted said simply. My jaw dropped.

"Well, so? They can't SEPARATE y'all! You're Legacy!"

"I said the same thing," Cody muttered. "'Parently Legacy doesn't count anymore." He rubbed his face. "I'm getting moved to Smackdown."

"But… But… Cody! Legacy will ALWAYS count!" I exclaimed. Everyone was silent. "Cody…" I sat down between him and Ted. "What're we gonna do?" He shrugged.

"The draft has both brands. So we'll all be on Raw Monday, and on Tuesday I'll head out with the Smackdown crew."

"Dude," John said. "It's not that bad. That gives us like, six days to have happy super-duper Baby Oil boys club meetings or whatever you call 'em." Cody and I both glared up at John.

"Happy fun Legacy all night party bashes," we both said fiercely. He threw his hands up.

"Alright, whatever. Those. You can have six days of those." I glanced at my bros.

"Are we allowed to have those while they're here?" Cody looked over and cracked the first smile I'd seen from him all night.

"Just means we'll have to pretend they don't exist for the next few days."

"Cody, you can't LEAVE me!" I said. "How're we gonna get married if you're on another show?"

"We've gotta wait two years anyway. I think we'll make it until I get back on Raw." I laughed and hugged him. A few seconds later, I turned on Ted.

"You're not leaving me too, are you?" He laughed a little.

"No, but they gave me this awful storyline about the million dollar championship. Does this not seem redundant to anyone else?" We all nodded in agreement. Cody groaned.

"I should have seen this coming! There's no way they'd keep us all on the same show after Legacy broke up!"

We did the house show that night, and then went back to the hotel. I forsook Randy and John and went with Cody and Ted instead. But instead of a happy fun Legacy all night party bash, we just sort of moped while Ted tried to convince us to do something fun.

"Halo!" he said, waving controllers in front of our faces. "You LOVE Halo!"

"This is a TRAJEDY Ted!" I moaned. Cody nodded in agreement. Ted sighed and nodded slowly.

"You force me to do something I didn't want to do." With a deep sigh, he went to the refrigerator. "Now, I got these because I figured that this would happen. I never thought it would be this bad, though." Cody and I looked up, our curiosity getting the best of us. From within the fridge, Ted pulled forth…

Three crisp, cold Rockstars.

Cody and I looked at each other and grinned.

Oh yeah, the party had just officially started.


	15. RAW is WAR

**AN: So, yeah. What happens when somebody threatens to break up Legacy? They go crazy.**

(Jessie)

On the first night, with an assist from an energy drink or two, we pulled an all-night Halo marathon. No late night phone calls from any hotel management or visits from large scary men. The three of us rode together to the next show. Cody and I decided that it would be fun to pull pranks on people in the back, while Ted said that he'd rather be the responsible one and keep his scalp.

So, Cody and I went out to scope out the best potential targets.

"Look at Kofi over there," I said, pointing from our hiding spot. "Is he sleeping?"

"Yeah, I think so. But look over there, Glenn just left his drink unattended."

"Ohhh, that sounds DANGEROUS. Let's pour salt in it!" With funny little snickers that attested to our lack of sleep, we crept over, dumped a couple packets of salt, and made our dash back to our safe zone. I stopped short when I looked into an open door and saw a locker room full of people's stuff, but with no people to guard it.

"Cody!" I whispered. "Come look!" He peeked in the door with me and grinned. With a motion that looked more dramatic than it should have, he pulled a roll of saran wrap out of the bag on his back.

"Let's do it."

20 minutes later we walked out of the locker room feeling pretty satisfied. We had hidden things around the room, Saran wrapped things in various places… Yeah. Whoever was in THAT room would have fun getting back to the hotel that night. We stopped back by the room to collect Ted and made a mad dash for the truck. By the time we were out there, Glenn was standing there looking terrifying.

"Hey, kids," he said, sounding nonchalant. "Whatcha been up to?"

"Nothing!" Cody said, a little too quickly. I glared at him.

"Why would you think that?" I asked.

"People were just saying things…" he said. "I'm sure they're not true, because I know that you three would NEVER do anything to ME." Ted raised up his hands.

"Hey man, whatever they did, I didn't have ANYTHING to do with it."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't think that, Ted! Here, as a peace offering, I made the three of you drinks." Cody and I paled. Glenn pulled three cups off the top of Ted's truck. He passed them out to the three of us, and then grabbed one for himself. "To friendship," he said.

"Here here," we all said weakly. I sniffed the stuff in my cup. Ugh, it smelled awful. Like vinegar and fish oil.

"Go on, drink up," Glenn said. I took a sip. UGH, it tasted worse than it smelled.

"That's uh, really good, Mr. Glenn," I said. He laughed.

"Oh no, drink ALL of it. You wouldn't want to insult me, would you?"Somehow, we suffered through the whole drinks. I don't know what he put in it, but I had to puke it all up before we left. Glenn waved us off.

"And remember, kids. Don't mess with me."

We spent the second night getting lectured by Mark and Paul.

"What were you thinking?" Paul asked.

"That I've only got 5 days left here and it would be fun to play a couple pranks," Cody grumbled.

"You DO realize that EVERYONE in that locker room is plotting revenge, don't you?" Mark asked.

"And do you know who's organizing them?" We shook our heads glumly.

"Glenn." The three of us glanced at each other. Apparently, Glenn's stuff had been in the locker room we sacked.

"Now, I didn't have ANYTHING to do with it," Ted said. "I minded my own business the WHOLE night. THOSE two were the ones who were getting into trouble." Mark grinned suddenly.

"Glenn actually has a message for you. C'mon." They walked out of the room. Apparently Glenn had been waiting outside the whole time, because suddenly we heard a loud "What? No way!" from Ted. He walked back in the room glumly. Paul laughed and shook his head.

"I hope you three know what you're getting into. Good luck, kids." Mark and Glenn walked in.

"To make sure you go to sleep, we're taking this." Mark said. He walked over to the TV and unplugged the Xbox.

"NO!" Cody wailed. "NOT SVEN!" Me and Ted's jaw dropped.

"Who's Sven?" Paul asked.

"THE XBOX!" we all cried at once. Glenn chuckled darkly.

"Goodnight!" They left us alone in the room. A few seconds later, a knock sounded on the door. I opened it, and Randy and John walked in.

"Was that Sven?" Randy asked with a grin. "Whooo, Glenn's mad, isn't he?" We just nodded.

"What did they ask you, Ted?" I asked suddenly.

"They offered to leave me out of all the payback if I joined them. I said no, I'd rather take the fall with you two."

"Aww, Ted!" I said. "You're the best."

"They've got SVEN!" Cody wailed. "What am I gonna do? He's a prisoner of war! What if they PLAY him? I've gotta get him back!" A slow grin spread across John's face.

"Alright," he said slowly. "I'm willing to help you guys out. But ONLY if you SWEAR not to tell them. Deal?"

"Just give us a moment to conference." We huddled up.

"John wasn't in that locker room, was he?" Cody asked.

"No, he was in with us," Ted assured us.

"So can we trust him?" I asked. Cody and Ted both nodded.

"I think so." We got back up.

"Deal," I told him. "What do you got?" Slowly, he pulled a keycard out of his pocket.

"I pulled it out of his pocket when we walked by. I figured you might want to get Steve back, so I grabbed it for you." He handed the card to Cody, who took it like the Holy Grail.

"John… You're not secretly on their side, are you?" I asked suspiciously. He shrugged.

"You can go and get your Xbox, or it could be a trap. Are you willing to take the risk?"

"YES! Shut up, Jess, we're gonna do it!" I threw my hands up.

"Alright, alright."

"Y'know, Jess," Ted said, glancing over at me. "Somehow I feel like we're gonna take the fall for this one."

A few hours later, we set out. We had our attack plan worked out. Saran wrap would be our signature weapon in this war, we had already established. So we set out like three mercenaries to Mark and Glenn's room. We got to the door, and on the count of three, I slid the card in and out quickly. The door unlocked, and we went in quietly. I turned on the flashlight I had attached to the bill of my hat and we searched around the room quietly. Mark and Glenn had rented a suite, or we could afford to make a little noise. We shuffled around, and suddenly saw Sven sitting on the counter. It was just so… obvious.

"It's too easy," I whispered. Ted nodded his agreement.

"Let's grab it and go," he said. I started putting it in the bag we had brought for it. Once it was all strapped away, I nodded.

"Let's roll."

"Wait," Cody said. "Let's do SOMETHING before we leave."

"Let's not press our luck, Codes," Ted said.

"Aw, c'mon, when are we ever gonna get a chance to prank Kane and the Undertaker ever again?" I shrugged and shook my head at Ted.

"He's got a point," I said. Cody grinned smugly and pulled out the Saran wrap before opening the door.

"Clear!" he whispered. I crept up behind him and peeked into the room. Mark was on the bed sleeping.

"Let's Saran wrap him to the bed," I said deviously. Cody nodded with a grin.

"Come help us, Ted." Ted shook his head, but came and helped. "Keep watch, Jess," Cody ordered. I nodded and put Sven's bag on my back. Ted and Cody crept over to the bed and got the wrap ready. Just as they got ready to pass the wrap over Mark...

He sat up.

We all screamed in surprise. Mark grabbed Ted and Cody by the collars, and I made a mad dash for the door, only to run into a grinning Glenn. I turned off my flashlight, sending the room into darkness.

"Jessie," Glenn said evilly. "You can't hide from us in the dark."

"Run Jess!" Cody said from the other room.

"They're all in here!" Ted yelled. I dashed for the light from the door and made it out without getting caught. I ran down the hall and dove into a cleaning closet. A few seconds later, three or four pairs of footsteps thundered down the hall.

"Check the stairs!" Mike yelled.

"She can't have gotten far!" Stephen said. I almost laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. Ted and Cody had just been captured by our enemies, and I was on my own now. When I decided that it was safe to venture out, I slowly opened my closet door and saw feet. I opened it a little wider and my eyes travelled up, to be met by a grinning John Cena.

"Uhh, Jessie's not home right now. Please leave a message and try back later." I tried to shut the door, but he grabbed it.

"I didn't know they would have a trap, trust me. C'mon, let's go back up to my room and we'll figure something out."

We went up to him and Randy's room, and I gave them the details on what had happened.

"They must have noticed the key was missing," John said. "Because really, I didn't sell you guys out."

"They've got Ted and Cody!" I said. "I've gotta get them out of there before they do something awful!" Randy laughed.

"I warned you."

"Yeah yeah I know. Any genius plans, John?" He thought for a moment.

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to rescue Ted and Cody from Kane and the Undertaker's lair, guarded by three or four angry wrestlers. Yeah, no, I've got nothing. Run in, guns a-blazin' and save them? You've still got the card, right?" I nodded. And then, I got a plan.

"I've got it!"

I walked back to Mark and Glenn's room with nothing but the bag I had carried Sven out with. I opened the door, and was a little surprised to turn my flashlight on and see Ted and Cody saran wrapped together and seated in the middle of the room.

"Mark! Glenn!" I called. Mark's evil laughter rang forth from the depths of the suite. "I came to make a trade!" They walked out of one of the rooms.

"What KIND of trade?" Glenn asked.

"Ted and Cody for Sven," I said. Cody moaned through the saran wrap over his mouth. I opened the bag and showed them the faceplate of the Xbox. "Deal?" They conversed for a moment.

"Deal." I handed them the bag, and then pulled Ted's knife out of my pocket and cut the Saran wrap off of them.

"NOOOO!" Cody cried. Ted and I dragged him out the room.

"C'mon Codes, we've gotta go!" I said.

"But, SVEN!"

"I'd rather have you two than Sven. C'mon." We got out the room. "Run!" I said fiercely.

"What?" Cody asked.

"RUN!" We dashed for the stairs, and heard an angry yell from the room we had been in. We ran up the stairs and quickly locked ourselves in our room.

"What did you DO?" Ted asked. I laughed between breaths.

"I came back here and grabbed one of Cody's extra faceplates. Then I ghetto rigged the bag so that when they took the faceplate OUT the bag, it would set off that stink bomb you had, Ted." Ted and Cody looked at each other and laughed.

"They're gonna be SO mad!" Ted said.

"So, where's Sven?" Cody asked quickly. I smiled and grabbed a pillowcase behind me. I pulled out his precious Xbox, and he grinned brightly.

We played Halo for the rest of the night.

At some point during our fun, a note was shoved under the door. On it was roughly scrawled 'THIS MEANS WAR."


	16. Goodbyes Suck Too

**AN: Here it is folks. Our last day with Cody. Pout :/**

(Jessie)

By the third night, I was exhausted. We had done our best to stay out of Kane and Taker's way, because we had the strange feeling that they were more likely to murder us than to prank us. All three of us had been without sleep for the past four days, so that third night, we tried to stay up and were planning on going down to the parking garage to toilet paper some cars, but at some point we ended up falling asleep playing Halo.

I had passed out, and I woke up to the sound of our door opening. I was SO tired, though, so when I looked up and saw Mark, Glenn, and their pack of vicious wolves walk in, I stuck my tongue out and let my head fall back on my pillow, which ended up being Ted's stomach, as I'd find out the next morning. We had accidentally gotten a room with a single queen sized bed, so Ted and Cody were going to have to share anyway. When we fell asleep playing the Xbox, Ted was my pillow, and Cody ended up just draped across me. Don't ask. We were exhausted.

"Just do it," I told them. "I'm too tired."

"Y'all are lightweights," Mark said with a chuckle as he shooed his cronies out. "It's only 9:30." I glanced over at the clock and saw that he was right. With a laugh, I fell back asleep.

When I next woke up, it was to sunlight coming through the window.

"Cody," I said, shaking him a little. "Get off." He moaned and swatted at my face.

"Shut up, I'm tired."

"Ted, get him off."

"Cody, get up."

"You get up."

"Guys, it's Friday." That made them both sit up.

"What!" Cody said.

"What time is it?" Ted asked. I looked over at the clock.

"8:30!" We had to be on a plane for Chicago at 7, and we had just missed it.

"I know I set the alarm on the clock!" Ted said. "How could none of us have heard it?" It hit me like a freight train why none of us had heard it.

"They turned it off," I said.

"Who did?" Cody asked.

"Last night, Mark came in I thought he had just left without doing anything, but I guess they musta turned off the alarm."

"Ohhh, they're just getting NASTY now," Ted said. "Maybe this prank stuff was a bad idea."

"Bah. Admit it, Ted, this is the most fun you've had in months," Cody gloated. Ted's phone started ringing.

"Hullo? Oh, hey, Randy. Yeah, we think they came in the room last night and turned off the alarm. We're just gonna drive. Sure, here." He handed me the phone.

"Hey Randy," I said.

"I just noticed that you three weren't on the plane," he said with a laugh. "We haven't taken off yet, but I think we're about to. There was some kind of weird delay."

"I heard them come in the room last night, but they left without doing anything," I explained. "They must have come back."

"I don't know. Anyway, you can make it if you go fast. Not that I'm encouraging speeding or anything, but I don't want y'all getting in trouble."

"Yeah, yeah," I said with a grin. "Alright, gotta go. I'll see you in a couple hours."

(Randy)

I looked over at Mark, who was sitting in the seat across from me. First class, baby.

"You know they missed the plane, right?" He laughed.

"Well I was certainly hoping so. I figured it would be a good start. Do you know how much we had to pay for the stink bomb that went off in that suite?" I laughed.

"So I guess that's not the end for them, then."

"We were gonna get them GOOD last night, but I walked in, and they were all passed out on top of each other."

"What?" Mark chuckled.

"Yeah. They must have just fallen asleep. Ted was layin' on the bed with his head on the pillow, and Jess was usin' his stomach for a pillow, and Cody was layin' across her. It was hilarious. I sent everyone else out and turned off the alarm. I'm certainly not done with them yet, though." I laughed.

"What is Cody going to do when it's just him against you and Glenn on Smackdown?" He sighed blissfully.

"I dunno, but we'll get him good." I rolled my eyes. Mark and Glenn were two sadistic SOB's. I decided then that maybe it was time for me to lend my Legacy kids a helping hand.

(Jessie)

We got to the arena about an hour before the show. We hadn't stopped for food or anything, so we were all starving. We practically ran down to catering, and we were met by Randy and John.

"C'mon," they said. Randy put an arm around my shoulder and steered me AWAY from the food.

"Randy, I'm HUNGRY!"

"Sorry, you lot can't have that. They spiked the rest of the food with laxatives. I'm SURE you two don't want to perform like that." Ted and Cody's jaw's dropped.

"Really?" Cody asked.

"The whole roster was warned not to eat it or tell you three," John said. "So, that means that we've officially joined your side. They've got people watching."

"This is insane," I said. "We're just pranking them."

"It's like a whole other world," Randy explained. "And you three just HAD to mess with the most powerful guys back here. They're just kidding, sure, but things can get pretty crazy around here sometimes."

"You wanna hear my advice?" John asked. I nodded. "Just take the fall. Let them get you back, and then Cody can enjoy himself before he's stuck with them." He turned to Cody with an evil grin. "Mark and Glenn. On Smackdown. By yourself."

"Oh no," he said. "What have I done? Oh no. C'mon, we've gotta go like, apologize or something. They're gonna kill me!"

"It's too late for that, Codeman!" Randy said with a laugh. "You are just finally going to have to deal with the consequences of your actions!"

"Why don't you bake them cookies or something, Jess?" Cody said glumly. "You were the one with the stink bomb."

"Because I was trying to save your skinny butt! You just HAD to saran wrap him to a bed. Besides, in my experience, cookies only cause problems," I said with a glance at Randy. He laughed.

"You're right. I'd go with brownies."

We somehow survived the show without eating anything, but after that we were ravenous. Randy and John accompanied us to get fast food and pick up some brownie mix as a peace offering. I freaking slaved over them because none of the MEN in the room wanted to help *cough*. And you wanna hear the OTHER messed up part of that fourth night? They made me go by MYSELF, right into the den of lions, to deliver it.

"C'mon, Jess, PLEASE!" Cody said. "I'm scared of them."

"Uh, so am I!" I said. "Ted-"

"Nope. I'm not leaving the safety of this room." I cocked my eyebrow at him.

"You, my friend, are a fair weather brother."

"Yeah, yeah, go deliver peace offerings."

"Randy! John!"

"Sorry kid."

"Have fun, Jess!"

And so, I was sent out into the hallway to go seek out the Brothers of Destruction to try and make amends, more for Cody than for myself, since I wasn't the one who would even have to see them again. But, away I went like the good little Jessie, grumbling to myself about the unfair-ness of the whole situation. But, soon, I was standing in front of Mark and Glenn's door. I took a deep breath and knocked. The door opened, and Mark looked down at me with a smile.

"Why Jess! I assume those are the brownies I requested." I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Requested? Randy said…" The smug grin that spread across his face was all I needed to know. "He was two timin' us, wasn't he?"

"He was lookin' out for y'all. But as long as you're here, come on in, there's somebody I want you to meet." I looked up at him suspiciously.

"I swear, if they set me up to take the fall for them, I will take every last one of you out," I warned.

"Don't worry about it. Glenn and I are already planning on getting him back on Tuesday night. I'm sure he can tell you all about it. But until then, come on in." I looked around, and then stepped into the room. "Gunner!" Still holding my brownies, I tried to figure out who Gunner was. There weren't any wrestlers named Gunner, were there?

"What's up, Dad?" A kid walked out of the room adjacent to the one we were in.

"This is Jess." He looked at me.

"Sup."

"Jess, this is my son, Gunner." I looked this kid over. I got the distinct feeling that Mark was trying to set us up, and quite frankly I wasn't all that impressed. He was ok looking, I guess. Brownish reddish hair, Mark's hazel eyes. He just kinda gave off this air of smugness that rubbed me the wrong way.

"Um, hi." An awkward silence ensued. "So, uh, are we even?" Mark chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. Glenn, you good?" I looked over, and Glenn had been sitting on the couch the whole time and I never even noticed him.

"With you, I guess. You owe me a favor though. Got it?"

"Yessir. What about Ted and Cody?" Mark and Glenn both laughed.

"Poor Ted never did anything," Mark said.

"But, could you tell Cody that we said something really threatening?" Glenn asked. "I kinda like watching him jump every time we get too close."

"No offence, Mr. Glenn, but I think most normal people jump when you or Mr. Mark get too close." They both laughed. "Look, I'm gonna get back to the guys. We've only got two more days until Cody goes to Smackdown." With a snicker I left the room.

So I slipped some laxatives of my own in the brownies? Who would ever know?

Under strict orders from John and Randy, and lots of assurances from the three of us that we had learned our lessons, the happy fun Legacy all night party bashes stayed WITHIN the hotel room for the next two nights. And then, that was it. The Draft came and went, and Cody, Ted, and I ended up in the same position we had the night we found out he was leaving. Sitting in the hotel room moping about how everything was about to change.

"Halo?" Cody asked half-heartedly.

"Y'know, this is the last time we're gonna get to play together," I pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Cody asked.

"Well, you're going away, and I'm staying here, and I'm never gonna see you again because I'm goin' back home after the summer…" My talking slowed down the more I realized that I was right. I was never going to see Cody again, except for maybe the July Pay-per-view, IF he was in it. "Aww, Cody!" I sobbed.

"I don't wanna play Halo," he mumbled. Ted half-heartedly tossed us both energy drinks, which we caught and drank.

"Feel better yet?" I asked.

"No."

"Aw, c'mon, guys!" Ted said. "We can't just mope all night! Cody's leaving in the morning, we've gotta do something."

"Oh no, Ted. I am NOT leaving this room," Cody said. I laughed a little.

"You wanna hear something funny?" They both looked at me.

"Sure."

"Those brownies I gave to Mark? I spiked them with laxatives." They looked at each other, and then started laughing.

"Seriously?" Cody asked. "I can't believe you got away with that!"

"Yeah, well, look who got the last laugh. You're gonna call and tell us what they do to you, right? Cuz you know they're gonna get you back GOOD."

"Yeah, yeah, I will." He finished off his energy drink. "Hey toss me another one of those, Ted. Let's have a little fun."

**AN: NOOO CODY COME BACK!**


	17. Breakthrough!

**AN: The author would now like to point out that she almost cried during this chapter, so I expect NO LESS from you lot. Got it? **

**That is all.**

(Jess)

Tuesday morning, we all gathered in the parking garage. The day was appropriate for our somber goodbyes. It was overcast, foggy, and otherwise depressing. Cody was going to hop a plane and then a bus to the Smackdown tapings, so he was going to ride with Mark and Glenn to the airport.

"They're gonna eat me," he grumbled.

"You'll be fine. But really, tell me what they do to you," I said with a grin. He smiled and shook his head.

"I'm gonna miss you," he said, pulling me into a hug.

"Yeah, I guess I'll miss you, too," I said. "Maybe next time I see you, you'll be good at Halo." He drew away.

"Is that a challenge?"

"You betcha." He laughed and turned to everyone else to say goodbye. I looked at Mark, Glenn, and Gunner. "Bye guys. Don't hurt Codeman TOO bad." Mark laughed and gave me a loose hug.

"Take care of yourself, girl."

"You got it." I turned to Glenn, who put an arm around my shoulder.

"So, I guess you're excited to find out what we're doing to Cody tonight, huh?" I nodded.

"Uh, yeah!" He tightened his grip and bent over to whisper in my ear.

"Then take this as a warning. If I ever find that there are laxatives in my brownies EVER again, what happens to Cody tonight will happen to you, only 10 times worse." I paled.

"Uh, you got it, big guy!" I said nervously.

"Good!" he said, much louder and less scary. "Have fun!" Gunner walked over to me looking terrified and laughed a little.

"You get used to him," he said with a laugh.

"Yeah, you never fed him laxatives, and I would like to point out that you started it!" I said, pointing up at him. He still had a grip on my shoulder.

"Oh, really, so would you LIKE this to continue?" he asked.

"Um, no sir, I'm very sorry about the brownies, have fun at Smackdown!" I slipped out from his grasp, and Gunner laughed. He stuck out his hand.

"It was, uh, very nice to meet you," he said with a smile.

"Yeah," I said. "You, too." He held onto my hand for a LITTLE too long, and I didn't know QUITE what to do. Thank goodness for Cody. He came up from behind and practically tackled me.

"Bye, Jess! I'll call you in a few days and we'll start working out those wedding details." The look on Gunner's face was hilarious.

"Yeah, Codes, get your Master Chief suit ready." He hugged me tight.

"Aww, I'm gonna miss you!"

"Yeah, I know. Cody, you're my favorite Legacy Halo partner."

"I'm your ONLY Legacy Halo partner."

"So?" I was almost crying now. "Bye Cody," I sniffed into his shoulder.

"Bye, Jess." After a moment, he let go, and got into the car with Mark, Glenn, and Gunner. Randy came up behind me and put an arm around my shoulder. We waved goodbye to them as the car left the garage.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss him, too," Randy said. My tears were openly falling now, but I wiped them away quickly. "Aw, c'mere."

"What if I never see him again?" I asked quietly.

(Randy)

Here I was holding a crying teen in a parking garage, and she tells me that she's upset because she might never see Cody again. What do you say to that? We had to send her home in just about a month. I looked up to John, who just cocked an eyebrow at me and shrugged.

"You'll see him at the Pay-per-view."

"Y'think?" she asked.

"Yeah. He wouldn't miss it for anything." She smiled a little.

"I can't wait to see what Glenn and Mark do to him." Ted came over with a grin.

"So what did Glenn tell you just now?" Jess chuckled.

"He said that if he ever found laxatives in his brownies again, what happens to Cody tonight will happen to me, but 10 times worse."

"Laxatives?" John asked.

"Hey, they started it," she grumbled.

"And uh, what was goin' on with you and Gunner?" Ted asked.

"Nothing!" she said, defending herself quickly. "What's going on between you and Cody?"

"Hey now, hey now," Ted said. "I'm not the one crying." She grinned.

"Ted, you suck." I was a little jealous. Ted was so good at breaking through to her. I was still trying to figure all this out. Mental note: Talk to Ted later.

"Well, c'mon, Jess," I said, letting go of her and throwing my stuff in the trunk of my rental. "We're headed to St. Louis." She looked up at me.

"Really?"

"Well, I've been trying to tell you for the past few days, but you've been… otherwise occupied." She laughed.

"Alright. So I guess I'll see you two later," she said to Ted and John.

"Bye, hotshot," Ted said, hugging her quickly.

"See ya, kid," John said. We got in my car and headed to St. Louis, Missouri.

Well, the quality time was not all I had hoped it would be. The first half hour was spent in utter silence. After a while, I texted Ted.

_How do you do it?_ I sent him. A few minutes later, his response came.

_Do what? _

_ Talk to her like that? It just seems so natural to you._

_ That's because you just have to talk to her like you would a normal person. She's a teenager, not an alien._ I laughed a little.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Hmm?" I looked over at her. "Oh, nothing. I was just texting."

"Texting while you're driving is dangerous, silly goose."

Five more minutes passed without any words.

_IT'S NOT WORKING!_ I sent over to him.

_I can't help you! Ask her about herself, Idk!_

"So, tell me about yourself." She looked up at me with a grin.

"Well, m'name's Jessica Long, I live in Bush, Louisiana, I play the trumpet, and my favorite pastime is watching professional wrestling." FINALLY, I thought of something to talk about.

"Why is that your favorite pastime?" She shrugged.

"I dunno." She suddenly grinned. "You wanna know something funny? I used to HATE wrestling. I was always like 'why would I want to watch guys in their underwear wrestle?'"

"So, what changed your mind?" She chuckled again.

"My best friend is Jeff Hardy's BIGGEST fan. Not kidding. When she was in the hospital, there was a life-sized Jeff Hardy cutout that stared at us all the time. Anyway, so a couple years ago, she makes me sit in her room and watch Jeff Hardy's movie. I don't even remember what it was called. But I listened to him and Matt's story, how they came from nothing and made it all the way to the big times. And I just kinda fell in love with it all. I started keeping up with it, and it's been a passion ever since."

"Why was your friend in the hospital?" I asked.

"Katelyn? She had two brain tumors. They operated to get them out."

"Did they work? Is she ok?" Jess sighed.

"Kinda. There was a complication in the second surgery and she lost her sight."

"Her sight? She went blind?"

"Yeah. They told us 6 months, a year tops, but…"

"But what?"

"It's been nearly two years, and… she never got it back."

"Aw man… I'm… I'm sorry." I was feeling awful now. I brought it up.

"Oh, no," she said suddenly. "We adapted. She's really the closest friend I've got, and nothing can change that. Not even blindness. You wanna hear a funny story?"

"Sure."

"Her family brought me to my first show. It was Extreme Rules 2009. You had a steel cage match with Dave, and I was pullin' for you the whole time. I caught heck for that because you were a bad guy, but man, I was so excited. I swear, you went to climb that cage for the win, and I really though you looked at me. I was screaming for you to come down, that you didn't need to prove anything." She chuckled. "But you got back in, and you ended up losing. I think Dave had torn something that night."

"His bicep," I said.

"Yeah, that. Anyway, he went in the back, and you stayed in the ring to watch the video that came on the Tron. Well, I was ALL the way in the back, on the floor. You came around the back and walked right past me. And I yelled 'Randy! You'll get him next time!'" A huge grin had spread across her face at this point. "And you turned around, and you gave me this HUGE glare. If looks could kill," she said with a chuckle. "Anyway, that was the best thing that had happened to me all night. I still brag about that, and Katelyn's little brother was right there next to me. Me and him used to brag to everyone we could that THE Randy Orton glared at US." She sighed happily. "That night, I was supposed to be giving play-by-play to Kate, but I got SO excited during your match that I just stood up and started yelling." She looked at me with the biggest smile. "You're my favorite."

"Oh really?" I asked. "Not Shawn Michaels?"

"Now, I must say," she admitted. "I cried when he left. I cried a little when I found out he had lost at Wrestlemania." I laughed.

"Yeah, we all did. He's a great guy. You never told me why it's your favorite pastime." She shrugged again.

"I don't know! I just love it. I always have. How hard y'all have to work to get here, everything! Being in that ring with you and Chris was one of the greatest moments of my life. It was always my dream to be able to say that I stood in that ring." She was quiet for a moment. "Can I tell you something I really… never told anyone else?"

"Knock yourself out."

"I always wish I had more time with my parents, but, we never really had anything in common. I got back from Extreme Rules, and mom just told me, 'So how was it? Oh wait, let me get ready to pretend to care about something I really don't.' And dad, dad brought me to a show, and spent the whole time drinking. I actually spoke more to the family next to me than I did to my own dad. Sucks, huh? I was never really that… close to them."

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"No, no, it's nothing to be sorry about, it just makes me wonder sometimes. Was it MY fault we weren't close? Was I a bad kid, or-"

"No!" I said, cutting her off. "Something like that isn't your fault. Just because you didn't have much in common with your parents doesn't make you a bad kid!"

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"No buts! C'mon, cheer up. Let's talk about something happier, alright?" She looked up at me with that big grin again.

"Yeah. Thanks, Randy."

Talking to each other became 10,000 times easier after that. It was about another hours drive to my place in St. Louis. We stopped for lunch, really spent some quality time together. But soon enough, we were at my house, and I parked in the driveway. I got out but she never opened her door. I opened it up and looked down at her.

"You ready?"

"Do you think they'll like me?" she asked, looking up at me nervously. I laughed.

"Who DOESN'T like you, Jess?" I said. She opened her mouth to say something, but I stopped her. "Dave does NOT count, you brat." I held my hand out to her, and she took it. "Come on, let's go inside."

**AN: Come on, you heartless readers, wasn't that heartbreaking? Next, we get to meet SAM AND ALANNA!**


	18. Of Families and Storms

**AN: Here ya go folks! Don't forget to review!**

(Jessie)

Alright, I'll be the first to admit that I was nervous. My parents never really got along. Honestly, it had surprised me to find that they had been in the same car when they died. So when I realized that I would be chilling with a real-life NORMAL family with a husband and a wife who loved each other, I wondered what I was supposed to do. What if Mrs. Orton didn't like me? What would happen then?

I didn't even notice when we parked in Randy's driveway. It wasn't until he opened my door and looked down at me that I was snapped out of my thoughts.

"You ready?" he asked with an easy smile.

"Do you think they'll like me?" I asked. He laughed.

"Who DOESN'T like you, Jess?" he asked. Dave Bautista popped into mind, and I tried to tell him so, but he cut me off. "Dave does NOT count, you brat." He held out his hand to help me up, and I took it with a smile. "Come on, let's go inside."

We walked inside, and Randy just looked happy.

"Sam! Al! We're home!"

"DADDY!" a small voice yelled. Small footsteps could be heard, and then a crash and the sound of shattered glass. A little blonde girl sped into view. Randy put his bags down and scooped her up.

"There's my little girl! What'd she break, Sam?"

"Picture frame. It's no big deal!" She walked into the foyer next.

"Hey there, stranger," Randy said with a smile. Still holding Alanna, he pulled Sam into a long kiss. "I missed you," he said. Sam pulled away with a smile, and then turned to me.

"How rude of us?" she asked. "You must be Jess." She held out her hand, and I shook it with a smile.

"And you must be Ms…?"

"Sam. Just Sam. Randy's told me a lot about you."

"Really?" I asked with a grin. "I'm sure it was all the bad things." Randy feigned a hurt look.

"Um, excuse me! I told her all about how you were my favorite runaway," he said.

"I'm your only runaway," I pointed out.

"Well would you rather me tell everyone you're my LEAST favorite?" We all laughed.

"Don't be strangers," Sam said. "Come on in, I was about to start on dinner. Randy, show her up to the guest bedroom." I looked up with Randy with a grin, and he shrugged.

"What can I say? She's got me whipped. Al, do you know who this is?" She looked at me and then shyly buried her face in his shoulder, peeking out at me. She shook her head.

"This is Jessie. She's going to live with us for a while." She didn't say anything, just smiled and turned her head into Randy's shoulder more.

"She's so cute," I told Randy. He grinned.

"Yeah, she gets it all from me. C'mon, guest bedroom." He led me up the stairs and into a big room with a full sized bed and French doors.

"Is that a balcony?" I asked in surprise. He laughed.

"Yeah, I like to be able to impress whenever some of the other guys come over. But… this'll be your room, for the time being." I grinned.

"This is awesome, Randy."  
"Well, yeah, I try. Anyway, there's some drawers right there, but we're gonna be heading out tomorrow afternoon, so you might as well not unpack. I'm not, just gonna wash my clothes."

"You sound like such a pro at this," I said with a laugh.

"I'm a pro at EVERYTHING. Anyway, yeah, come downstairs whenever you're done."

"You got it!" Randy walked out the room and left me alone to check everything out. The bed was fantastic. I wasn't short by any standards, and I had slept in a twin bed my whole life. A full sized bed was awesome. And the French doors… Cha. Awesome. With a grin I opened them up and stood outside on the balcony. It was a nice day outside. Not too hot, but everything was really quiet. I looked up on the horizon and saw a thunderhead building. It looked like there would be a bad storm tonight. Hey, don't give me that look. I came from a long line of mariners; I knew how to read these things. With a sigh, I shut the doors and walked back into the room to get my stuff organized.

A few minutes later I went downstairs and found my way into the kitchen. Sam was cooking a spaghetti sauce, it smelled like, and laughing at Randy and Al. He was picking up his little girl and zooming her around the kitchen like an airplane. She was giggling adorably, and Randy looked happier than he had in a while. He brought Al over to Sam, and she put a spaghetti noodle on Randy's nose. I stood in the doorway feeling awkward. I felt weird, intruding on their private lives like this. They looked so happy, why should I interrupt that? As I turned to leave the room, Sam saw me.

"Hey there!" she said. "Don't be a stranger. Come on in." I walked in slowly. "How good are you at buttering bread?" she asked. I laughed.

"I think you could call me a bread buttering pro," I said.

"Well good!" She handed me some sliced up pieces of French bread and a bowl of melted garlic butter. "Think you can handle that?" I laughed.

"Yeah, I got it."

"Don't you Southern folks eat a lot of French bread?" she asked. I nodded.

"We have it with everything. Makes good Po-boy bread."

"Po-boy?" Sam asked, looking at me strange.

"Yeah, it's kinda like a sandwich, on French bread. You put anything on it, shrimp, roast beef."

"They're really good," Randy put in.

"I'm gonna have to cook y'all some real southern food," I said with a sigh. "Northerners," I groaned. They all laughed at me.

From then on, everything just seemed simple. We sat down and ate dinner together, then went and watched T.V. Gradually, through the night, I found myself becoming more and more relaxed. Sam was great. It was nice to finally have another female to talk to. It was definitely a big change from the happy fun Legacy all night party bashed I had been used to for the past week. Before I knew it, it was bed time.

"Bed time!" I told Randy with a laugh. "I think I forgot what that was."

"What do you people do on tour?" Sam asked.

"Me Ted and Cody have been partying. He got moved to Smackdown."

"Were you three close?" Randy laughed out loud.

"Were they close? Look at this picture Mark sent me." He pulled out his phone and showed her a picture. Sam started laughing.

"Hey! What is that?" I asked. Randy shook his head, and I scrambled over him to grab his phone, and saw a picture of Ted, Cody, and I asleep on top of each other. "He took a picture?" I asked, surprised.

"And sent it to everyone on the roster," Randy said. I groaned. "I told you, they will ALWAYS find a way to get you back. Anyway, bedtime, you two!" He picked up Alanna and carried her upstairs.

"Can I help you clean up?" I asked Sam.

"Oh, you're wonderful!" she exclaimed. "But no, no. Go on upstairs. From what Randy told me you've have some trying past couple days. Go to bed." I grinned.

"Thanks, Sam. G'night!" I ran up the stairs after Randy, and stopped short at the top of the stairs when loud thunder shook the whole house. Randy's head poked out of Al's room.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Fine!" I said quickly. "I'm good. Night."

(Randy)

I watched Jess practically run into the guest bedroom. The storm tonight was going to be bad. I was worried about her. After I had put Alanna to bed, I went downstairs to spend some one on one time with Sam.

"So, do you like her?" I asked her as I took a seat next to her on the couch.

"Are you kidding?" she said with a laugh. "She's a great kid. I'm glad you brought her here." We were both silent for a moment as lightning struck again and thunder rumbled in the distance.

"She's afraid of storms," I said quietly.

"Will she be ok?" I shrugged.

"Last storm we had to deal with, she seemed a lot better than the first time. I might check on her a couple times tonight." She turned to me and kissed me.

"I missed you." I grinned.

"Let's move this somewhere a little more… Private."

(Jessie)

I laid in bed for a few hours, unable to sleep. At some point, I had decided that I was tired of being scared of useless things like storms. Maybe not HARMLESS, but certainly not anything to be afraid of. I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was midnight. It hadn't started raining yet, but the thunder and lightning had picked up. It would start to pour any moment now. Do they HAVE storms this bad in Missouri? I chalked it up to my terrible luck and sat up.

"I'm not afraid of anything," I muttered to myself. Not really thinking about my actions, I walked over to the French doors and opened one up, stepping outside to the balcony. The wind ran through my hair, and the thunder boomed all around me. Lightning spider-webbed across the sky.

"It's kinda beautiful, isn't it?" I spun around and saw Randy standing behind me with a small smile. I nodded. "What are you doing out here."

"I decided I was tired of being afraid," I said softly. "Look, I'm sorry, I just needed to-"

"No, don't apologize," he told me gently. "I'm glad you could face it." I looked back out into the clouds and took a deep breath. Randy came up next to me and put one of his arms around my shoulders. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm better than I've been in a long time." The loudest thunder I think I've ever heard cracked through the night, and I cowered into his embrace.

"Look," he said. "It can't hurt you." I looked out into the night and nodded. Slowly, I drew away from him and stood right by the rail. More thunder shook the night, and I was alright. I thought about how much my life had changed in such a short time. I had people who cared about me. I knew what family really felt like.

And now, as the first raindrop fell, I felt something I hadn't truly felt in months. I was free.


	19. To Achieve Greatness

**AN: DISCLAIMER: I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE REAL TECHNICALITIES OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING AND NOBODY SHOULD USE THIS CHAPTER AS ANY REFERENCE TO ACTUALLY, WELL, WRESTLING. Got it? So no running out, trying to take a bump, and then suing me or anything crazy like that. Anyway, read on.**

(Jessie)

We spent the next day just chilling at the house, and but soon enough it was time to head out. House shows are beautiful things.

We waved goodbye to Sam and Alanna, who still didn't like me very much. And then we were on the road again. We never talked about that night again. Ever. And I think we were both content to keep it that way.

In just a few hours, we made it to the arena. As I quickly found, we had lost Cody and a few of our own, but we had gained a couple people, too. Most notable was Adam 'Edge' Copeland, and the Nexus.

Now, I know that the Nexus had been around for a while, but for some reason we never really saw much of them. Now they were on tour full time with us. So, when we made it to the arena, Randy and I found ourselves in the same locker room as John, Ted, Adam, and the rookies. Randy was quick to bring this to Vince.

"I liked it when it was just the four of us in our own locker room," Randy said. "We're not even asking for private, just not all 10 thousand of the new kids."

"Sorry, Randy," Vince said. "Cody's not here anymore, we just got a couple guys from Smackdown, and I trust you, Adam, and John not to terrorize them like the other guys will. Now stop bothering me and go get ready." With a sigh, Randy and I marched back to the locker room.

"Any luck?" Ted asked. We shook our heads.

"Looks like we're stuck with the rooks and a Canadian," John sighed. Adam walked in at that moment.

"Hey now, what's wrong with Canadians?" he asked.

"Well well well," John said with a laugh. "If it isn't the prodigal son, returning to Raw."

"Aw, shut up John. Who's this?" he asked, looking at me.

"I'm Jess," I replied.

"Oh, you're the runaway!" Randy, John, Ted, and me just kinda looked at each other. Really, is there such a thing as a secret back here? With a sigh, I nodded.

"Yeah. That's me."

"Did Dave really-"

"Yes," Randy said, looking a little aggravated. "He did. We don't like to bring it up."

"Ok, ok," he said. The Nexus trooped in the room at just that moment.

"Ok!" I said, getting up off my perch. "It is getting a LITTLE too crowded in here for my taste!" I watched the whole Nexus troop in, minus Bryan Danielson. He had already been fired at that point. "There sure are a lot of you people," I said, raising my eyebrow.

"That's because we're going to take over the world," Wade Barrett said in his thick accent. "I'm Stu Bennett. That's-"

"We can introduce ourselves, Stu," Heath Slater said. "I'm Heath Miller," he told me in his thick accent.

"Paul Lloyd," Justin Gabriel told me.

"David Otunga's my real name," the A-lister explained.

"Fred Rosser," Darren Young said.

"Ryan Reeves," big Skip said.

"Tyrone Evans," Michael Tarver said. I had gone down the row one by one shaking their hands. I don't know why, but this was a little funny. These dudes were newer than I was. Sort of.

"Wow," John said. "You DO look like me, Fred," he told the younger man. Fred smiled.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Why do you think I grew out my hair?" We all laughed.

"Well, really, too many people. I'll see y'all in catering."

"Another Southern person!" Heath said. "We should like, hang out! Naw mean?" I blinked twice in confusion.

"Ignore him," Stu said. "It's his new favorite thing to say. Run before he starts acting REALLY weird."

I went to catering to chill with Paul and Steph, who I hadn't seen in a while.

"How was your day off?" Steph asked with a smile.

"Pretty good," I said with a smile. "It was nice to finally meet Sam and Alanna."

"What did you think of them?" Paul asked.

"Aw, they were great. Sam's awesome, and Al's just the cutest little thing ever. 'Cept for maybe me when I was a baby." They laughed a little.

"Did you ever hear from Cody?"

"No, actually," I said with a frown. "He never called. I hope they got him good."

"I don't think he could," Paul said with a chuckle. "He'll get a hold of you somehow. Glenn and Mark wanted this to be a warning to you." I shook my head.

"Scary, scary dudes. Poor Codes."

"Hey, Jess!" I turned at the thick Irish accent.

"You're not gonna kill me, are you?" I asked Stephen, thinking that the last time I had seen him was from my hiding spot in a broom closet. He was walking over with Matt Sydal.

"Nah. We're over all that."  
"We were thinking," Matt said. "You wanna come out to the ring, and we'll show you a few moves?"

"Sure!" I said. "But, uh, lemme just call Randy first."

We went out to the ring, and the Hart Dynasty was already in ring practicing. Tyson and Davie were goin' at it, practicing some submission moves and just looking like they were having a good time. I waved to Nattie and she smiled.

"I've been looking for you!" she said. I cocked my head.

"What for? I've been camping out with Ted and Cody, so I guess that's why you couldn't find me." Stephen chuckled beside me.

"Oh, we all know." He whipped out his phone.

"I already saw it!" I groaned. Everyone laughed at my expense, and then Natalya walked over to me.

"Uncle Bret wanted to talk to you," she said.

"Uncle Bret as in..?" She nodded with a grin.

"Bret Hart? Yeah. That Uncle Bret."

"Why does Bret Hart want to talk to me?" I asked, a little flabbergasted. Her grin got even bigger.

"I'll text him. Were you two about to teach her?" she asked, turning to Stephen and Matt. They both nodded. "Well, go on. Tyson! David! Get out the ring!" We all jumped at the ferocity in her voice. All three of them took seats ringside and Nat gestured at us. "Go on. Teach." We looked at each other and shrugged, and then got into the ring.

"Alright," Steve said. "So, when I say 'take a bump,' what do I mean?" I furrowed my brow.

"That's when you make it look and sound like you just got murdered, right?" Matt grinned.

"That's the idea. This is just the really basic one. Steve's gonna 'push me,'" he said, putting air quotes around the 'push me.' Steve lightly pushed Matt, and he fell back like Steve had just shoved him across the ring. He fell flat on his back, but slammed his hands down and made a loud smacking noise.

"What did he just do?" Steve asked.

"He made it look a lot worse than it actually was. He fell onto his back so he wouldn't injure anything, and used his hands to make a noise." Matt grinned and got up.

"Exactly."

"Think you can do it?" Steve asked. I shrugged.

"I can try." Steve shook his head.

"No, that's not the answer we're looking for. You don't just TRY. What did I tell you the first time I met?"

"Never back down from a fight," I said, remembering that day in the ring.

"Exactly. Now, that just means you've gotta have confidence. Confidence! To BE the best in the world, you've gotta really BELIEVE you're the best in the world. Now, do you think you can do it?" I grinned.

"Bring it on." He nodded.

"Now." He held his arms out and shoved me gently. I fell backwards, onto my back, but hitting my head on the mat in the process.

"Ow," I moaned. Steve chuckled. "Don't say it. Tuck your chin, right?" He grinned and nodded. "Alright, let's do it again."

I don't know how long we practiced, but I must have done it a hundred times. I'm pretty sure that my back was red from falling on it so many times. I was sore all over.

"Steve!" I said as he helped me up. "I hurt!"

"That's when you've gotta keep going!" We all looked down at the front row where the Hart Dynasty had been sitting, and found that at some point, they had been joined by the Hitman himself. "When you've gone so far that you feel like you can't go any more, that's when you learn." He climbed in the ring. "Do it again." Without anybody pushing me, I fell onto the mat. My back stung as I hit it again. I groaned in pain. "That's not right. Smack your palms on the mat. Tuck your knees." I got up again, then fell right back down. "No! Bring them down with FORCE! Tyson, c'mere!" Tyson hopped in the ring and fell back. He kept his arms crossed, and then with a great yell, he swung them down and hit the mat, making a huge slapping noise. "Do it." I took a deep breath, and then tried to mirror the move. "Wrong. Do it again."

"It hurts!" I groaned. "I can't-"

"NO!" Bret said. He literally grabbed my collar and pulled me up. He's strong for an old man. "NEVER say you can't. Now, do it again. Tyson couldn't EVER get it until he started throwing all his emotions out into it. SCREAM if you have to. Cuss as loud as you can. Just learn to talk the bump." I shook my head.

"Alright," I said. Steven looked at me with a cocked eyebrow.

"What was that?"

"I said I've flipping got this!" I growled.

"You know what the problem is?" Matt asked. We all turned to him. "She can't do it. She's just not good enough." Had I not been exhausted, I might have seen the sly look in his eye. But, under the circumstances…

"Excuse me?" I asked him. "You can't… I'm not… Just watch!" I took a deep breath, and with an angry yell, I fell back and slapped the mat. I just laid there, looking up at everyone. They were all smiling down at me.

"Good job, kid," Bret said. He held out his hand and helped me up. "What did I say? You've gotta go PAST the point where you can't go on. That's where you learn. That's where greatness is at." His motivational speech put me in awe, and I almost forgot about my sore back. Right up till Bret slapped me RIGHT on the shoulder blades.

"Ow," I growled.

"Oh, suck it up."

"Nat told me you wanted to talk to me?" He grinned at me.

"Walk with me. I have a proposition for you." We got out the ring and walked up the ramp. "I watched you that night at the house show, with Chris and Randy. And I've got to tell ya, you've got talent, kid." I looked over at him wide eyed.

"Ya think so?" I asked. He nodded.

"I wouldn't even be talking to you otherwise. Now, Nat told me you're interested in wrestling." I nodded again. "And Vince told me you'll be here for the summer." Another nod. "Well then, the kids and I have been talking, and we've decided that we're willing to give you a crash course in the Dungeon's training." My jaw dropped.

"Seriously?" He just nodded. "Mr. Bret, man, I've always dreamed of this!" He laughed.

"The Dungeon kids all call me Uncle Bret, so I guess that's what you can call me from here on out. Good luck, kid." We entered catering and saw Randy sitting with John, Paul, and Steph. "Alright, Randy, we've got some news for you." He looked up at us.

"What's up?"

"I have decided that I'm gonna train your girl here." John and Paul both laughed.

"You think she can handle it?" Randy asked. I gave him a look. "I mean, no offence, Jess, but you really don't work out much."

"We'll fix that," Bret promised. "You shoulda seen her learning to take a bump. Trust me, I know these things, she's a natural."

The rest of the show passed uneventfully, and before I knew it, I was staring at our hotel room. Ted had joined John, Randy, and I, so we pooled our money and got a suite. There were two rooms, one with two full beds, and one with a single queen bed. And to my great surprise…

"A futon! Are you serious! Yes!" The couch folded out into a bed. I was gonna stretch out TONIGHT!

"Annnd," Ted said with a grin. "Check out what I brought from home." From behind him, he pulled out his own Xbox. "I heard through the grapevine that Cody had access to his Xbox again and was looking for us." We laughed and plugged it in. In just a few minutes, we were hooked up to the internet. Ted passed me some of those super headphone things, and we found Cody's gamertag.

"Codes?" I asked into the mic.

"HEY!"

"Sup, Cody?" Ted asked.

"Is that the nerd?" John asked from the other room. "Tell him I said hey."

"I resent that!" Cody yelled, his voice coming out of the TV.

"Cody, GUESS WHAT!" I said.

"What?"

"BRET HART WANTS TO TRAIN ME!"

"Seriously?"

"Uh, heck yes! So anyway, what did they do to you?" I asked.

"Well, they stole my bag and then took ALL my stuff and distributed it among the crew. I had to find everything and get it back. I still haven't found it all. Hey, Gunner wants to play." In a few seconds, Cody had a guest.

"Hey," Gunner said over the line.

"Uh, hey," I said. Ted nudged me and wiggled his eyebrows. "Shut up," I mouthed. Apparently Cody was giving Gunner the same heck, because I heard a quiet 'whatever' muttered over the line. "Uh, ANYWAY," I said. "Let's see if I've ACTUALLY got some competition now."

Well, I had no competition. I was still the best, and around 11 Ted and I were ready for bed.

"Here, Mark wants to tell you something," Cody said. There was a rustling in the mic, and then Mark's deep voice came over the line.

"Glenn and I want you to know that if you ever prank us again, we'll take your stuff and distribute it among BOTH rosters. Got it?"

"Uh, yessir, good to talk to you Mark! Bye Cody, Bye Gunner." We turned off the game, and I went to bed before I could hear anything from anybody about Gunner.


	20. Happily Ever After?

**AN: I have nothing to say but TIME LAPSE!**

(Randy)

For the next couple days, Jess spent nearly all of her spare time with Bret and the dungeon graduates. At a house show one day, I walked down to the ring to watch her. I go out to the ring, and Natalya had her stretched out in one of the famous Dungeon submission holds. Chris Irvine had long since joined them, being a graduate himself, and he was coaching her from the side.

"C'mon, this isn't BAD!" he said.

"Did I SAY it was?" Jess asked through clenched teeth. Chris grinned up at me.

"She's got potential," he said. He hopped out the ring and came to talk to me.

"Don't you think it's a little… Much for a 16 year old?" He shook his head and sighed.

"Relax, Papa Bear. It's not like it's gonna kill her. She wants to go through with this, so we'll help her." I scoffed.

"You know she wouldn't back down. Not when you people are all encouraging it." He looked at me like I was nuts.

"You DO realize that you're a wrestler, too, right?" I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. Don't kill her."

That weekend, nearly the whole roster headed to St. Louis for my dad's 4th of July bash. He always invited everyone, and with JR's promise to barbeque, we flocked to his house. Jess and I spent time with Sam and Alanna. I didn't know if it was just me, but it seemed like Jess and Sam were getting closer, which was absolutely fine by me.

We introduced her to my dad, Cowboy Bob Orton. He loved her the moment he laid eyes on her.

"Well, hello there young lady! You must be Randy's new daughter we've heard so much about!" Jess and I just laughed uncomfortably at that.

"It's very nice to meet you," she said. I was praying that something would stop Dad before he said something else, and my prayers were promptly answered by Ted and Cody, who had come down with Mark.

"What are YOU doing here, Codes?" Jess asked after they had hugged and made funny noises.

"Part of my punishment is that I have to stay with Mark and Glenn, and they were coming down, so I figured I would, too." She ran off with Ted and Cody, and I turned to glare at my dad.

"What did ya say that for?" I demanded.

"Say what?" he asked, looking honestly confused.

"The daughter comment!" He shrugged.

"Well, all I hear about is how you people took in a runaway, and then you and this kid get close! I was just makin' a joke, relax." I sighed. He was right, I was just overreacting. "Guilty conscience?" he asked with a sly grin.

"Mind your own business, old man," I growled. "Say, what do you think about letting Bret train her over the summer?" He shrugged again.

"If she wants to, it's fine. It's not like Bret'll hurt her." I scoffed.

"Y'know, she sure LOOKS like she's in pain."

"Well, son, that's just part of it. I mean he won't seriously injure her. Just relax."

"Well, I just worry," I muttered. Dad laughed.

"Now you know how us old folks feel when our kids declare that they want to follow in their daddies' footsteps."

"Your dad's got a point, you know." I turned and saw Bret walking over.

"Y'know, Bret, I just don't think this is good for her!"

"Oh, really?" he asked. "Are you sure it's just not good for YOU?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You don't want to see her get hurt. We understand that. But she's not GOING to get hurt. And it's hard enough to train a teenager on the road without you mollycoddling her!"

"Mollycoddling! Now you listen to me-"

"Randy!" We turned and saw Jess staring at us. "Don't I have a say in this?"

"Well, I mean…" That's when she gave me this look, and it wouldn't be the first time I'd get it. It became known among us as THE Look, and it said without words 'I'm GOING to go through with this and you can't stop me.'

"I WANT to do this. I'd give anything for this. Please, Randy?" I heaved a big sigh.

"Alright. Fine! Do your thing. I guess I can't change your mind."

So, that ended that debate. I had been defeated by a teenager and some Canadians, and they convinced me to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening.

(Jessie)

"Come meet my dad," Randy said with a grin.

"THE Cowboy Bob Orton?" I asked. "Uh, heck yes!" So, we walk over there, and the first thing the guy says is something about me being Randy's new daughter. I got red in the face. Yeah, it was something that I had thought we both felt the same about, but the awkward silence that ensued made me wonder how true that was. I was hoping for something to come break the silence, and then Cody and Ted walked up. I quickly took the opportunity to scat, preferring to NOT be right there at that moment.

"OMG," I told Ted and Cody. "Did you just hear that?" They both nodded.

"And we heard the awkward," Cody said.

"We decided to come rescue you. Who's the best?" Ted asked with a grin.

"Y'all are," I replied. Then, I heaved a big sigh. "Y'know, I can't help but get all hopeful sometimes that maybe I won't have to go back home. That maybe Randy and me have gotten so close that… y'know. But don't tell him that, I know it's dumb." Ted shrugged.

"It's ok. There's no easy answer to that one." Cody giggled all of a sudden.

"Oh, he cares alright," he said. "Looks like he's having it out with Bret Hart as we speak." That's when I ran over and spoke my mind. I was really excited about being able to be trained by Bret Hart, and I was afraid that Randy's overprotectiveness was going to ruin it.

"Don't I have a say in this?" I asked.

"Well, I mean…"

"I WANT to do this. I'd give anything for this. Please, Randy?" I asked. He sighed and shook his head.

"Alright. Fine! Do your thing. I guess I can't change your mind." I grinned and hugged him.

"Thanks, Randy," I said. I looked up, and saw his angry grimace slowly become a small smile.

"Yeah yeah. I'm helping from here on out," he told Bret.

"Deal," Bret said.

We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out and watching the amazing fireworks display Mr. Bob had put on. It was a great night. It was the first time in a while we could just relax for a night with the whole crew and not have to worry about being to a show in two hours. The Raw the next day was in St. Louis, so we could afford to relax. It was fantastic.

For the next month, business went about as usual. We went on the road, and then on the weekends, headed back to see Sam and Alanna. And, as the month went on, I gradually became more and more bummed out. I tried not to think about it, but in just a matter of weeks, I would have to return to Louisiana, and the best thing that had ever happened to me would end, and I'd be right back where I started from. I threw myself more and more into my training, because it was a distraction from more depressing thoughts.

Weeks passed, and nothing particularly interesting happened. There weren't any crazy people trying to take me out, no melodramatic scenes between me and Randy; if anything, life assumed some semblance of normalcy. So, when July 25 rolled around, I was excited because it was Night of Champions, the Pay-per-view where I would see Cody for the first time in a month.

"Cody!" I said with a grin. He and Ted walked into the room where I had set up shop for the night. Bret gave me the night off, and I was lovin' it.

"So!" he said with a grin. "Do you know what today is?" I shrugged.

"Sunday?" I asked. Ted and Cody both shook their heads.

"We didn't forget!" Ted said.

"Forget what?" I asked innocently.

"Oh, stop it," Cody said, his smile falling off his face. "We have been long-distance planning for this night for a month. Now, you ARE going to come with us, and you WILL enjoy your birthday!" My eyes got big.

"You got it, Codes," I said. "Just don't eat me." Ted laughed.

"Don't mind him," he said. "He's mad because we wouldn't let him get a Halo themed cake." With a laugh we left the room, and I was led to guess where?

Well, nowhere, actually. We walked around in circles backstage.

"Guys, where are we going?" I asked.

"Would you just relax?" Cody said. "We're just giving everyone time to work everything out." I shrugged.

"Whatever." I was led around in circles for another 10 minutes before finally, they got a text message, and with a big grin from Ted, I was led into catering. It was dark; I couldn't see a thing.

"Ted, are you sure?" I asked. A few seconds later, the lights flipped back on.

"SURPRISE!" All around me were the people that had made my summer the greatest ever. I laughed out loud.

"Really?" I said. Ted laughed

"Randy remembered that you told him one time you had never had a surprise party, so we worked one out. I looked around and saw Randy himself, grinning away. I ran over and hugged him.

"Randy, you didn't have to," I said.

"Shut up, yeah I did." We all laughed. "But really. You've been so bummed out lately. We wanted to do something really special for your birthday, so we all put our heads together and…" He gestured around. "Here it is."

We stayed at the arena 'till nearly midnight. Ignoring my protests, I was given gifts from all my close friends. Cody, obviously, got me my own Xbox live account so I could play on my own instead of being his or Ted's guest for the rest of my life. Uncle Bret gave me my own custom fitted pair of wrestling boots. (At which point Randy gave him HIS look. "She's gotta have 'em!" Uncle Bret argued.) Ted handed me a package with every Legacy shirt they ever made.

"Hey, everyone in Legacy has the whole collection," he said with a laugh. Vince, Steph, and Paul gave me a card with a hundred bucks and a phone number in it.

"You give me a call whenever we're in town, and I'll set you up with front row seats. Wrestlemania next year? I'm flying you out to Atlanta." I grinned up at him.

"Mr. Vince, that's AWESOME!" I exclaimed, hugging him. John handed me a card, too.

_Jess,_ it read. _There's a car I need to get rid of. Know anybody who needs one?_ I looked up at him.

"Absolutely not."

"And just why not?"

"Because, well…

"Exactly." He walked away with a grin on his face. Randy walked over next.

"Well, I didn't get you a car-"

"Don't worry, neither is John. I'm not done with him yet." He rolled his eyes.

"Sure. Anyway, I know how much you love that iPod of yours. And I wanted one of these, so I figured you would, too." I looked at him in confusion, and then he handed me a package.

"An iPad? Seriously?" He grinned.

"Do ya like it?" I laughed.

"Heck yes!"

It was only an hour drive to St. Louis from wherever we were that night, so we got back home at one the next morning.

"Happy late birthday!" Sam said. "Did you like the iPad?" I nodded happily, holding it up. "I told him you'd like it. He had no idea. You see, dear. Sometimes you just need a woman's input." We laughed and hugged. We had gotten really close over the past few weeks. On the days Randy and I were home, we did girly things like go shopping. It was always a nice break from the all night Halo parties we still had.

"So, didja enjoy yourself?" Randy asked with a grin.

"Did I… Shut up!" I hugged him. "Thanks Randy. This has been the best birthday, summer, whatever, ever." He hugged me back.

"I'm glad. Why don't you hit the hay? We'll break in those wrestling boots tomorrow." I grinned and bounded up the stairs.

(Randy)

I grinned as she ran up the stairs, then turned to Sam.

"I think there's something we need to talk about," I said seriously. She nodded.

"Me, too. We ARE thinking of the same thing, aren't we?" I pointed up the stairs, and she nodded again. We sat down on the couch.

"I think that we should really think about adopting her. Now, I know she's 17 now, and it won't really matter in a year, but I really think that this is something-" She cut me off with a 'shhh.'

"I understand, Randy," she said gently. "I love her just as much as you do. And, I think, that instead of sending her back to Louisiana, she should stay here with us." I looked at her, and then grinned.

"That would be great."

(Jessie)

I ran upstairs, but then remembered that I had forgotten the iPad downstairs. What? I wanted to play with my new toy! So I went back down the stairs quietly, as to not interrupt anything they were doing. I stopped when I realized they were still sitting on the couch.

"I understand, Randy," Sam said gently. "I love her just as much as you do. And, I think, that instead of sending her back to Louisiana, she should stay here with us." I gasped. They were talking about me, right? There wasn't anybody else here who had to go back Louisiana, was there.

"That would be great," Randy said. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "We'll talk to her about it tomorrow. Forgetting about the iPad, I crept back upstairs, nearly crying. This truly was the best summer ever.


	21. No Chance

**AN: Ugh. I have nothing to say. Sorry it's short, but it was depressing.**

(Jessie)

The next day, we all ended up in the yard messing around. It was a hot summer day. Alanna was helping Sam out in the garden, looking adorable in her little sunglasses and wide brimmed hat. She had a small shovel and was digging a hole in the garden while Sam was watering the plants. Randy and I were circling each other in the large open part of the yard.

"Ready?" he asked.

"C'mon!" I groaned. He laughed and ran at me. "Uh oh," I said before turning the other way and running. He caught up with me quickly and spun me around.

"Scoop slam!" he yelled. He easily lifted me and swung me over him, slamming me down.

"Ow!" I whined. He got up and rubbed his head, prepping for the RKO. I staggered up, looking like I was in pain. He hit the RKO, and I fell down, laying out.

"Bad Randy!" Sam said. She turned the hose on us and sprayed the water our way.

"HEY!" we both yelled. With a laugh, Randy ran at her and picked her up, spinning her around. "That wasn't very nice," he pouted. They kissed and just looked like a really cute couple. I laughed, still sitting on the ground. This had been my life for the past two months, and if what they had said last night was true, I wouldn't ever have to leave it! I would never lose the best thing that ever happened to me. I had a family now, a dad, a mom, and an adorable little sister.

Speaking of that adorable little sister, where had she gone? I looked around. She wasn't digging her little hole in the garden anymore. I was about to ask Sam, but her and Randy were having a moment that I didn't want to interrupt, so I got up to look around for the little girl. Looking around, I finally found her. She was waddling single-mindedly after something. It was about to lead her right out the yard and into the street.

"Al!" I said with a laugh. "Where are you goin'?" I walked towards her to collect her.

That's when I saw it.

The car.

Time seemed to slow down and my brain kicked into high gear. The guy was looking at his phone. He wasn't looking up. Al was walking straight for the road, right into the man's path. If she kept walking, she'd be hit by the car. I vaguely remember yelling Alanna's name before breaking out into a run. I had to reach her before the worst happened. Randy was running behind me, and Sam was screaming. I was going to reach her first. We tried to flag the guy down, but he was in another world. I was acting on instinct, now. There was nothing we could do to stop the car. My brain yelled stop, but my gut said keep going. If there was one thing I learned from the past few weeks, it was to always go with your gut, so I did. I kept going, as fast as I could. I estimated that if Al kept going, she would definitely get hit now. Randy was yelling her name, now. She wouldn't stop, that hardheaded little brat. I reached my arms out. A split second later, she was in my arms. I couldn't stop in time, either. I was right on the curb now. The guy finally looked up and slammed on breaks. With nowhere else to go, I jumped.

(Randy)

I spun Sam around and kissed her. This was a good day. After lunch, we had decided to talk to Jess about adoption. We were all happy.

All of a sudden, though, we heard Jess scream Alanna's name. We both looked up and saw what caused her distress. Al was walking right out into the road, and into the path of an oncoming car. Sam screamed, and I dropped her in the grass and took off towards the road after Jess. She was a good 5 paces ahead of me. We both tried to flag the guy down, but he was engrossed in his phone. I yelled Al's name, trying to get her to stop. She was focused on whatever she was chasing, though, and didn't stop. I knew without a doubt that I wouldn't be able to make it in time. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, Jess stepped it up and ran harder. She reached out and grabbed Al, and the man slammed on breaks. All other sound was drowned out by the squealing of breaks. Jess wouldn't be able to stop in time. She held Alanna close and took a running leap at the car. Squealing breaks were joined by the sound of shattering glass. And through all the turmoil, the sound of Jess crying out in pain cut through everything else. She hit the windshield and bounced off, landing on the pavement. Sam was right behind me, and we ran to Jess.

"She's unconscious," I heard Sam saying as the world caught up with me. I stood and glared at the man in the car. I couldn't see his face through the cracked glass and blood that was splattered across it. I stalked over and opened his door.

"Look man, I didn't mean to-"

"Shut up and use that phone for something useful," I said, barely restraining my anger. "Call the ambulance."

"Y-yessir." I turned when I heard Al crying.

"Randy! Help please!" Sam said. Jess was still laid out, but Al was in Sam's arms crying.

"Is Al ok?" I asked.

"She's fine, just has a few scrapes. Check on Jessica!" I fell to the ground next to her.

"Jess!" I groaned. "C'mon, talk to me." I gently turned her head. She was bleeding pretty badly, but it didn't look like her head was cracked. I checked for a pulse and found a strong one.

"Is she alright?" Sam asked.

"I think she's gonna be fine, just busted her head up. Did you call that ambulance?" I demanded of the guy in the car. He nodded, looking terrified.

What seemed like hours later, the ambulance finally came. They loaded Jess up, and I rode with them to the hospital. There were thousands of pesky questions to answer.

"Does she have insurance?"

"I'm not sure. She was just staying with me over the summer." The guy wanted to keep talking.

"Look!" I growled. "We'll just pay the full amount, alright? She needs help!" The scared doctors ran around and took her into a back room for an MRI.

"Any news?" Sam walked up behind me.

"No, they just took her for an MRI," I said slowly. They think she'll be fine though."

"I called John. He'll be down here in a few minutes." I sighed.

"I guess all we can do is wait."

Eventually, she got her own room. The MRI results came back, and they told us she was fine. No aneurisms, no cracked skull. She did have a few cracked ribs, but she would recover from that. John showed up at some point and sat in the room with me while Sam took Alanna to get patched up.

"What are you gonna do?" John asked. "Weren't you thinking about adopting her full time?" I put my face in my hands.

"I've made up my mind."

"Oh yeah?" I shook my head.

"I'm not gonna do it." John looked at me like I was nuts.

"Are you serious? She just saved your daughter, Randy."

"It's because I care about her, John!" We both looked over at Jess, who was stirring. "Listen to me, alright? Ever since I brought her here, she's gotten hit by a man three times her size, gotten into a war with some powerful guys, and now, she's been hit by a car. The worst thing that ever happened to her before she met us was she passed out and hit a water fountain. Now you can't tell me that this is good for her," I said angrily. "So, as soon as she's cleared for travel, we're taking her back home."

"You're crazy Randy. You tell her you're taking her home, and you know what she'll think? She'll think that house in St. Louis. She LOVES you guys."

"And I love her, and that's why I'm making this decision."


	22. The End?

(Jessie)

A few days later I was fit enough to travel. To Randy's credit, he never once mentioned that he had even THOUGHT about adopting me full time. I didn't even know why. All I knew was that one day they're talking about adoption, and the next, we were loaded into John's Hyundai and heading south. But not before many tearful goodbyes.

"Bye, kid," Bret said. We were all in the hotel the morning we left. Vince was giving Randy and John a day off to bring me back to Louisiana.

"Bye, Uncle Bret," I said, hugging him.

"Now, I'm expecting you to break in those boots. I'll email you the instructions. And I expect you to run a mile every day, at LEAST. And if you can, hook up with your school's wrestling team, or weightlifting team. Got it?" I nodded.

"You got it." I turned to Vince next.

"Thank you, sir," I said respectfully. He gave me the eyebrow.

"Don't 'sir' me, not after all you've put me through this summer! C'mere!" He hugged me, and I laughed, desperately trying not to cry. "Now, I expect you to call me next time we're in New Orleans, you got it?" I nodded.

"You got it, Mr…" He gave me the look again. "Sorry. You got it, Vince." He nodded and I walked to the next people in line, Paul and Steph.

"Alright, you," Paul said. "I'm expecting to hear from you." Steph nodded.

"Absolutely." I tearfully turned to Ted.

"Teddy!" I moaned. I practically jumped on him, and he hugged me tight. "I'll call you when you get there, alright?"

"Promise?"

"Promise." I stood on my toes and whispered in his ear.

"The day of the accident, him and Sam talked about adopting me." I pulled away, and he cocked his head at me, glancing at Randy.

"Really?" I nodded, crying openly now.

"I don't know," I said. With a quick goodbye to everyone else, Stephen, Matt, Chris, the Hart Dynasty, we got into John's vehicle and drove south.

And so, that's how I ended up here. Unable to sleep, mulling over my summer. I'd go back to school in about a week, and life as usual would resume. Except, there would be no such thing as life as usual anymore.

I had left that with some wrestler guys in what seemed like a whole other life.


	23. Not Quite!

**AN: Sorry, sorry, don't eat me! I just couldn't help myself! But here you go! There's still one more chapter, so just bear with me. Y'all are the best!**

(Randy)

The day after we left her in Mississippi, I called Jess like I promised Ted. And just like I told him, she never answered. I called Ted to tell him so.

"Keep trying!" he said, sounding exasperated. "You've gotta let her know you care. She's a teenager!" With an angry sigh I hung up on Ted and tried again. And again. And again. Until finally, FINALLY, she answered the phone.

"Hullo?" she sniffled, obviously trying to hide the fact that she'd been crying.

"Hey," I said gently. "I just wanted to check up on you, make sure you're alright."

"I'll be fine," she said quickly. I laughed a little.

"You'll BE fine? What about right now?" She was silent for a moment.

"I'll be fine." I sighed.

"Alright, if you don't want to talk to me, I understand."

"I don't." I heaved another big sigh.

"Alright. You can call whenever you need to talk."

"Ok."

"Bye, Jess."

"Bye." I called Ted back the moment she hung up.

"So, I talked to her, and she didn't want anything to do with me."

"Well OBVIOUSLY."

"You said she wanted to talk to me!"

"She's HURT, Randy! She wasn't expecting to go home!"

"What?" He groaned angrily.

"Nothing. I'd rather not make this any worse than it already is. YOU ask her."

"Ted," I warned.

"No. I'm on Jess's side for this one. You're not getting a PEEP out of me." With that, he hung up, too. I turned to John, who was driving today.

"What do you think?"

"About what?" he asked innocently.

"Be serious John. What do you think about all this? You know the whole story. Tell me what you think."

"You know what I think?" he asked. "I think that you're a melodramatic jerk who just crushed a girl's hope, one who we all love very much, I might add. That's what I think."

"She got hit by a CAR, John!" I exclaimed. "How much more would she have gotten hurt if she would have stuck around?"

"I said it before, and I'll say it again. She got hit by a car saving YOUR daughter. Do you really think people just DO that? She loved you and your family, and you just put her out in the cold." He sighed. "Look, it's not too late. I've still gotta drive the 'Stang down to give to her. We can pick her up then." I shook my head.

"I'm standing firm on this, John. It's better for her to stay down there."

"Oh, you're such an idiot."

(Jessie)

A week later, I was surprised when all of a sudden a Mustang and a big Ford truck pulled into our driveway. John and Ted stepped out, all smiles.

"John!" I groaned. "I told you not to!"

"And I told you to give me a good reason why, and you couldn't, so here I am!"

"And I'm here to drive him back," Ted said. I think they could both see the question that was threatening to burst out of me, because John just gave me his sad look and shook his head.

"He didn't think you wanted to see him."

"He's right. I don't," I said stubbornly.

"Well, let's not get bummed out. We were headed down to Bourbon for some dinner, and we figured we'd need an official tour guide. I laughed.

"Lemme get permission and then we can go."

We spent a few hours just eating dinner on Bourbon Street. It was a little annoying, having to be stopped for pictures every few minutes, but we managed to get out before the creepers started walking the streets. They took me back 'home,' and shipped out.

I cried more that night.

Looking back, I guess I was lucky. I could have been put under state custody, but I managed to just stay with people I knew. Life continued on just as it had before I ran away to New York. I found myself starting my senior year of high school, still playing in the band, still barely making it.

I had been wrong. No matter how much I faced it down, the memories were still painful. Ted still called me at least once a week. Sometimes, I really just wanted to tell him to stop. If he would stop, then maybe I could pretend like I really WAS crazy and that it had never happened. I couldn't hide it. I was going into a deep depression, and I wasn't quite sure how I was going to pull out of it. People tried to cheer me up, at first. But when I just kept pushing them away, they eventually gave up. And I felt lonelier than ever.

Months passed, and eventually I just decided that maybe I SHOULD just ask Ted to back off. Cody had sent me the Xbox like he promised, but it had been WEEKS since I played Halo with him. So, as I sat in the park playing with Rupert, I groaned when I got a phone call from Ted.

"Hey, Teddy," I said glumly into my earpiece so I could still throw the ball for Rupe.

"Aw, why the long face?" he asked.

"Because I feel like poop on a stick." He laughed a little.

"You feel like a corndog?" This got a chuckle out of me, and then I remembered what I had to tell him today. For my own SANITY.

"Ted…"

"What?" he asked. "Cody said to say that if you don't play Halo tonight, he'd snipe you from halfway across the country." I chuckled.

"Tell him his aim's not good enough." Aw, who's kidding! What would I do without Ted and Cody? "Ted?" I asked again with a sigh.

"Yeah?" I sighed again.

"I'm getting bad cell phone service. You're breaking up." I hit the small button on my earpiece and fell to the ground with a sigh. Rupert ran over and tried to jump in my lap, but I shooed him off. "I'm not in a good mood, Rupe!" I told him. He whined and laid his head on my leg.

"We have the exact same cell phone service. That call did NOT just drop." I checked my earpiece to make sure it was off. Did I just hear Ted? A big shadow fell over me, and I looked up.

"Ted?" I asked. He chuckled.

"The one and only."

"Teddy!" I yelled, jumping up and glomping him. "I missed you!" I said. I hadn't actually SEEN him since him and John brought down the car. "How did you FIND me?" I asked, drawing away from him.

"The truth?" I nodded. "Your guardian called me. He's worried about you. Said that you're a lot worse off than you're letting on. I sighed.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You GUESS so? How about you take me to a nice shady spot in this park, and we'll talk about it."

"That'd be great, Ted."

Rupert and I led him to a nice spot by the river where we could relax. Taking a seat on a picnic bench, we talked.

"So tell me what's REALLY been going on," he said. I sighed.

"I don't… have many friends," I said. "Don't get me wrong, they all tried, but… I've just been… Sad. All the time." I chuckled a little. "I lost my smile, I guess. So, eventually they all just kinda left me alone. I know it sounds stupid, but… Last summer was the happiest I've been in a long time. And when I heard Randy and Sam talking, and they wanted me to stay… I didn't think I'd ever lose that. I feel like I left everything that made me, well, ME back there. And besides that, I already lost my parents once, and then…" I looked down. "Dumb, I know, but…"

"No," Ted said gently. "I understand. You were happy, and you feel like you lost it all." I nodded glumly.

"I never figured out what I did wrong," I murmured. Ted sighed.

"You never did ANYTHING wrong," he said. "Randy thought…" I looked up at him. "He thought he was protecting you by sending you back here. He felt like all the times you got hurt over the summer were his fault, that they never would have happened if you hadn't been with him."

"Well yeah, but… I am who I am because of that summer. I grew so much…" He nodded.

"We all knew that. Randy's just hard headed. Why don't you tell him what you just told me?"

"Because I've managed to convince myself that none of you care about me and I shouldn't stress myself about missing you too much," I said with a chuckle.

"I wish you would call him," he said.

"What if he just tells me he doesn't want me?" I whined. He laughed.

"Y'know, I don't think you'll have to worry about that because you're not a dog, you're a person. No offence, Rupert." Rupe yawned in response. "But seriously. You should SEE him. You can tell when he's thinkin' about you, because he gets that really aggravated look, and can occasionally be heard calling himself and idiot. See, NOW, he thinks YOU hate HIM, so he doesn't want to push you away anymore."

"Seriously?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, why don't you just tell him I said to call, and we'll start working things out." He sighed and shook his head.

"Y'know what y'all's problem is? You're both too stubborn."

(Randy)

Ted had business to attend to for a day or so, and John was off tour for a few days, so I was left by myself. Ted was due to meet me here at the hotel tonight, so I was just waiting for him.

When Ted finally got here, he looked like he was going to KILL something.

"I guess something went wrong?" I asked as he walked in. He barked an angry laugh.

"Did something go wrong?" he asked sarcastically. He turned his glare on me.

"Hey man, it wasn't my fault," I said.

"Are you sure about that?" he demanded. "You wanna know where I went?" I nodded. "I went down South, to Louisiana, to see Jess, because Andrew asked me to go help because she's so upset."

"Still?" I asked. His jaw dropped.

"You just didn't. Let me explain something to you. She's not the same person you knew. She is so deep in this depression that I'm honestly WORRIED about her. And this is YOUR fault!"

"My fault?"

"YES, RANDY IT'S YOUR FAULT!" he yelled. "You thought you could 'protect her,' to 'keep her from getting hurt,'" he sneered. "Well guess what, Randy? You lose. Because YOU have finally managed to hurt her more than any CAR ever could."

"What-"

"JUST SHUT UP! YOU need to figure out a way to fix this, Randy. Do you hear me? FIX IT." He handed me his phone. "Just listen. This is her explaining to me WHY she's so upset." Apparently he had made a recording of her talking. God, she sounded so… Sad.

"Well, what should I do, Ted?" He slapped his forehead.

"I've been saying this from day one. TALK TO HER!" I nodded.

"Alright, I'll figure things out."

"Yeah, you'd better," he grumbled. "Or I might tear your face off."

And this time, I really DID try to fix things. I got some phone numbers, made some calls, worked some things out. As it turns out, Jessie had a big night coming up. It was her senior night for band, and the students were supposed to be escorted by their parents. I called Andrew to see what they were planning on doing. He told me that his wife and him already had commitments for that night, and wouldn't be able to make it,

"Somebody's gotta be there for her, though," he said. "I was gonna call Ted to see if he could come down."

"No," I growled. "Sam and I will do it."

"You had better not hurt her," Andrew warned.

"I'm doing this to fix things, don't worry," I assured him.

A quick phone call to her band director, and I had a plan. Somehow, things would work out.

(Jessie)

The night that I had been afraid of for weeks was coming up. It hit me a few weeks into school that on senior night, your parents were supposed to walk you out. As long as Andrew and his wife, Natalie, were going to walk me out, maybe I could keep everything under control. They could SORTA pass for my parents. If you overlooked the fact that we looked nothing alike, and they were only a few years older than me. Besides, it was only a few seconds. Nobody would even notice. I hoped.

But then, Andrew and Natalie had to back out. They had some kind of church thing to attend on that night, and couldn't make it. That's when I started to worry. If I was ALONE during the shebang, any semblance I had of keeping things together would vanish.

As the weeks passed by, I couldn't find anybody to take their place. I eventually just gave up. If the night was going to be miserable, I might as well be, too. The night of, I tried to convince Mr. Naquin, the band director, to just let me sit this one out. He shook his head.

"Sorry, kid. You've gotta go through with this one." With an angry groan, I walked out onto the field. They started calling names, escorted by their parents. I picked a spot in the sky above the stadium and stared it down. Aliens never abduct you when you need them to.

Then, they got to my name.

"Jessica Long," I heard. "Fourth year trumpet player and band sergeant." The words just sort of faded out as I tuned them out. "Escorted by…" I looked up at the box where the announcer was at, then at Mr. Naquin. I wasn't escorted by anybody. Half expecting him to apologize for being wrong, I stared at the ground. "Randy and Samantha Orton." I looked up again with a gasp. He couldn't be serious. I scanned the line of parents, their faces blacked out by the bright stadium lights behind them. And then, two of them walked forward. This had to be some kind of sick joke. As they got closer, I could see them. It was them! Randy and Sam! Suddenly I noticed the deep cheers coming from the stadium. The whole crew was up there, Ted, Cody, Vince… All of them. Randy and Sam came to stand next to me, and I laughed for the first time in months. Sure, I was crying, but for an entirely different reason than I had been.

"You came!" I said, hugging them. Randy hugged me back, holding me tight.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured. "I never meant to hurt you." I felt something dripping onto my head.

"Are you crying?" I asked with a sniffle and a laugh.

"Are YOU?" he snapped back playfully. I turned to Sam and hugged her.

"I missed you," I told her.

"I told Randy her was stupid, but you know how he can be," she said with a laugh.

"It was never your fault," Randy said gently. "I was so afraid you would be hurt that I never thought of how much I was hurting you." I nodded.

"I know."

"But the important thing is that we're together now. And NOTHING is ever gonna change that, I promise."


	24. Epilogue

**AN: Thank you thank you thank you! Thank you to all of you who supported me through this whole endeavor, because honestly, you wanna know something strange? This is the first story I ever finished all the way through. I love you guys and I hope you stick around for the sequel! **

**Ciao! **

After the night they made their amends, Randy and Sam put in a formal request to adopt Jessie as their daughter. After several months, the request went through, and Jessie became known officially as Jessica Nicole Long Orton. After talking over living arrangements, Jess decided to stay in Louisiana to finish out the school year. She ended up receiving a full paid scholarship to Southeastern Louisiana University, and decided to study biology there for her undergraduate studies.

During the summer, though, she went back on tour with the company. She continued her training with the Harts, and quickly became a proficient wrestler over the summer. Several house shows around the country and around the world featured the talents of one very young new Diva.

Over that next summer, Jess and Gunner dated for exactly 3 days, 4 hours, 28 minutes and 5 seconds. After spending too much time together, both realized that they couldn't really stand each other.

Cody spent a few weeks touring with Raw, during which he and Jess pranked Mark and Glenn… For old time's sake. Jess spent the rest of the summer digging through wrestlers' stuff trying to find her iPod.

(Jessie)

That's how everything went down. I sat down a few days after that night and started writing everything down. I never wanted to forget a single detail. I even got Randy to write down a few details for me. I quickly found that I could smile again, and got out of that funk I was in. Randy and I became life family. Life was perfect. It was everything I had ever wanted. My future is never certain. Nobody's is. But there is one thing I will always be sure of.

That summer changed my life.


End file.
